Honor Bound
by StarvingLunatic
Summary: AU. Set in Japan during the Tokugawa era. Director Betty recuits samurai Kim and ninja Yori for a job to find out about a plot to overthrow the govt. The job: go undercover as geisha. Kigo. RonYori. Cover by YogurthFrost at deviantart.
1. Into the fox's den

A/N: okay, this story is gonna be rather tricky and there are a few things I suppose I should warn anyone trying to read it about. It's supposed to be set in the Tokugawa era of Japan (1600-1867), but then I also had to make the KP universe fit into that world, which I will admit to knowing general information on. In short, give the thing a chance before never looking at it again.

Another thing, any characters that lacked a name, be it first or last name, in the show, I'm giving a Japanese name, but characters that have a name in the show will keep that name. I'm hoping to avoid confusion.

I don't own these characters, as you probably know.

This is also going to be a kigo, which should be expected. Run if you don't like kigo. Also a bit of Ron and Yori love.

Honor Bound

1: Into the fox's den

Director Betty sighed; she could not believe that she was at the manor yet again. There was actually nothing wrong with her being there, but it bothered her all the same that she was there yet again. There was something about her having to come and recruit someone for a job when she had so many people at her disposal. It was just that those people were not the same because they just were not this person. Even though she was not so certain that the person she was looking for would even be able to do what she needed her to do, but she had to chance it.

She also did not like coming to the manor because the family that lived there was…well…for lack of a better term, strange. Now, she was used to eccentric people. She came from an eccentric clan herself, but she believed that they paled in comparison to this clan. She would rather not think about it, but it was kind of hard not think about it when she entered the manor.

She always expected to see the twins in the front yard when she entered the gates, getting into some kind of trouble, but they were not there that time. The grass was probably appreciative of their absence considering some of the things that the boys enjoyed doing in their spare time. Sometimes, the pair would be out there, seeming almost normal, like playing with a ball. But, most of the time, they would be out there, showing that they had been born into the proper clan and injuring the grass, along with themselves a great deal of the time. She supposed that it was a good thing that their mother was a doctor.

The boys seemed to take after their father. Though their father had been born into the samurai class, he was more into doing engineering projects than anything else, making him very useful and therefore liked by the Shogun. The boys were into building too and often made chahakobi-ningyou (1) or other toys for the elite classes to play with. But, their real passion seemed to lie in fireworks and that was how they tended to hurt the front yard more often than not. She had heard that they were great to have around for festivals and celebrations, if not a little dangerous to have around too. She was actually surprised that they had not burned down the villa yet.

The boys got the fireworks passion from their father, who also designed fireworks in his spare time. He was a very educated gentleman and the things that he built were nothing short of amazing. He was still an odd fellow, though. She thought that it was peculiar that out of everyone in such a well known samurai family, there was only one real, practicing samurai among them. And that one warrior was unbelievable, to a disturbing extent.

She supposed it was unfair of her to consider the warrior disturbing. After all, she was certain that there were whispers about her when she left a room that she was equally disturbing for many of the same reasons, even though she did not think that she was so strange. Still, she thought it was telling for her to consider someone creepy considering who she was, not to mention the people that she dealt with on a daily basis.

She was drawn out of her thoughts as she was greeted by the mistress of the manor. Another weird thing about the family was that they were samurai nobles, but they did not have any servants. It was not that they could not afford any, but they did not seem to want any.

"Ohayo gozaimasu (2), Possible-sensei (3)," she greeted the mistress of the manner.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Director-sama (4)," the redhead replied with a bright smile.

Betty returned the smile, but it was a forced expression. She did not have anything against Mika, also known as Possible-sensei. There was just something about the woman that was a little, well, off. Betty was not sure if that was due to the family that Mika had married into or if she had always been like that. She suspected that Mika just seemed odd because of the family that she married into because Betty doubted that anyone could measure up to the Possible strangeness without already being in the clan or having spent a lot of time around them.

"Please, come in," Mika said to Betty, motioning into the front room of the dwelling.

Betty obliged and removed her zori (5) to enter the Possible home. They went through the standard things done by a host with Mika offering her food, drink, and the redhead being hospitable toward her guest by asking if there was anything at all that the one-eyed woman wanted. Betty declined because she was not there for a social call. It was business as usual, as it always was. She would never come to the Possible villa for anything other than business. Not many people would go to the Possible home for anything more than business, even though they were all rather friendly people.

She had always heard the entire Possible clan was rather strange, but she had not met the whole clan to pass any judgments. She had met enough to know that they were…different; she was being kind by putting it that way in many people's opinions. Mika was in that category of "different," even though she seemed like a nice enough woman.

There were rumors going around that Mika was either the daughter of a fox spirit or she was a fox spirit. Betty would like to say that she did not believe in such nonsense, but it would explain some things if she was the child of a fox spirit or a fox herself. If Mika was either of those things, then it would clear up why she was decidedly different. Still some of things said about the redheaded doctor were a little outlandish.

Betty was not sure what started the rumor, but she guessed that it either had to do with the fact that Mika's hair was the color of a fox's fur or because people could not figure out what the woman was doing married to her husband. It was suspicious that a woman like Mika was with a guy like James, so people thought that maybe she was a fox playing a trick. If she was playing a trick, it had the longest punch line of all time considering they had been together for seventeen years now. Was any prank worth that much time, even if one was an immortal?

If the marriage was not a trick, it was still used to support the fact that she might be a fox. Many people seemed to think that she was _too _devoted to her husband, which was not something that Betty could understand. She was not sure what "too devoted" meant, especially when it was between a husband and wife that cared about each other. When people started saying things like that, it just showed her that they had too much time on their hands and they needed to go do something with their lives.

Betty did silently admit that she was curious how Mika was still sane living with a man like James. Yes, he was brilliant man, but he did not seem to be quite right in his head. Betty was not sure what it was, but something just did not seem right about him and she thought that prolonged exposure to him should lead to madness. His children were quite mad, after all. Well, the twins were anyway.

"So, how is everything, Possible-sensei?" Betty inquired. She did not want to come right out and say why she was there for some reason, even though they both knew why she was there.

"Everything is fine," Mika answered.

"I notice that your husband isn't around," Betty commented to make conversation.

"He took the boys out. How's everything with you?" Mika asked courteously. She knew that she was not going to get the true answer. She often suspected that she did not want to know what went on in Betty's life. She actually did not even know what Betty truly did. She just had a vague idea, which was all the brown-haired woman wanted her to have.

"Fine," Betty lied, as expected.

"She's where she always is when you come by. Creature of habit and all," Mika remarked with a fond smile.

"She's a creature of habit?" Betty inquired incredulously.

Mika only laughed. She supposed it was a bit misleading to call her a creature of habit. She guessed that it was actually just wrong to label her at all. There was no accurate label for her, except maybe "Possible."

Betty did not say anything after that question. There was no need to pretend, especially since Mika knew why she was there. So, she left to go find the only practicing samurai left in what had been a rather famous samurai line. She went out to the back of the manor and found Kim where she always was for some reason, working out on plum flower poles.

Kim had a collection of over a dozen plum flower poles, which were usually found at training schools on the continent, but Kim had some right in her home. They were set up in a space in the garden of the manor. There was actually a whole area in the garden just for her to do her exercises. She worked out on her plum flower poles everyday, which was also odd. She was a samurai, so most people would expect her to train with her katana everyday rather, but Kim had to be a strange sort of samurai. Betty suspected that it was because Kim was a Possible.

Kim was a samurai that acted like a ninja, some of the teen's friends said. They were not too sure what kind of warrior to label her as, so they just threw anything at her. They probably only referred to her as a samurai because she carried around the necessary swords of her class. If there was no class code, they would have no idea what Kim was when it came to combat.

Betty watched the young lady for a moment. Kim was moving easily from pole to pole while working with a jian (6) of all swords. Leave it to Kim to combine training that she should not even be doing. It was all right for the redhead to be working on the plum flower poles because at least it worked on her balance, but Betty could not see the point of the girl working with the jian.

Now, Kim was the reason that Betty was willing to believe that Mika might be a fox or at least the offspring of a fox. Kim was an incredible person, even for the family that she came from. She could do some extraordinary things, more so than almost anyone that Betty had ever met. Something had to be in that girl's blood aside for what was in most regular humans, so it would make sense that her mother was a fox spirit.

There was the rumor going around among younger people that Kim herself was the fox of the family. They even claimed that she turned into a fox a few times right in front of them. Betty had never seen such a thing and she really did not want to if it was the truth. She knew enough about the girl to last a couple of lifetimes.

"Kim-dono (7)," Betty called to get the teen's attention. She addressed the younger female with respect because she did respect the girl and she also required Kim's help, so she was going to be as polite as possible. Kim was probably the only person that got her polite side when she required assistance. Others were just ordered around.

The redheaded teenager turned at the sound of her name, but she made sure to stay on the one plum flower pole that she was standing on. She was holding the jian pointing forward and standing on one leg, as if she was still in the motions of her practice. And then she noticed who it was that had come to pay her a visit.

"Director-sama," Kim greeted the older woman.

"Spare a minute?" Betty requested, even though it was more an order. It was just that Kim would never think to turn her down, so she made it sound like she was requesting something of the girl.

"Of course."

Kim leaped off of the plum flower pole that she had been standing on. She landed with ease on the ground. She also sheathed her jian in its scabbard, which was on her back. She then bowed slightly to greet Betty properly. Betty bowed slightly too.

"Since when do you work with a straight sword?" the one-eyed woman inquired curiously.

"For a while now. I'm trying to get a better feel for it, just in case I ever run into an opponent that wields on. I want to understand the sword enough to be able to hold my ground against it," Kim explained.

"That is a good plan. You're always thinking about ways to improve," Betty commented and from what she could tell, that was the truth all around. Whatever Kim did, no matter how well she did it, the teen seemed to always want to get better.

"Well, I do want to make it home from any mission that I get, so I need to improve," the younger female replied.

Betty nodded to show that she understood that line of reasoning. Kim was always thinking ahead, which was what made her a fantastic warrior and which more than likely assured why she did make it home from every mission that she had. Kim was rather like a manuscript of fighting and weapons techniques as well as strategies, which was why her friends were not sure what to call her when it came to combat.

"So, are you here to give me a new mission or checking on your nephew's betrothed?" Kim asked with a smile.

The one-eyed woman did not bother to answer because Kim knew the answer. Kim was set to marry Betty's nephew, Will. He was the son of Betty's younger sister. While Betty cared about Will a great deal, she never went to the Possible home to check on the woman that he was supposed to marry. It was not that she did not care about the setup, but that she was too busy and she knew that there was no need to check on Kim.

While Kim was strange girl, possibly the daughter of a fox spirit, she was still quite the proper young woman. She knew how to handle herself as a lady when the time called for it, just like she knew how to handle herself as a warrior when the time called for that. It was going to be a grand thing when their families united under the marriage between Kim and Will. She just hoped that Will could handle being married to a girl that he looked at more as a rival than as a woman. Betty would actually be surprised if Will knew that Kim was female.

Kim and Will, they were almost funny to think about as a couple; funny in an almost tragic sense. Whenever they were near each other, they seemed out to prove something. Will was trying to prove that Kim was inferior to him and he was not even looking to do it because she was woman. He was just looking to do it because whenever she was around, he perceived that she was trying to do his job better than he could. He disliked being shown up by anyone, but now especially by Kim because she did it time and time again.

The teenage redhead always seemed out to prove that she was either Will's equal or better than he was. She wanted him to respect her because she felt that she deserved respect from any and everyone. She could do anything that he could do and he needed to learn that as far as she was concerned. He was not special in her eyes.

When the teens finally did get married, they would surely be quite a couple to watch. They might actually need some serious supervision considering the fact that they had gotten into sword fights a few times through out their lives and if they were not getting into sword fights, it was fists fights. They fought with each other as if they were enemies more than anything else. Betty would not be surprised if one of them died and that was how the marriage would be ended. All she could wonder was how long it would take for things to come to that.

In fact, one of the reasons Kim and Will had not been married yet was because their families were scared to leave them alone in a room. Really, who knew what might happen. They figured that they would wait for Kim and Will to grow out of their "petty" differences and then have them get married. Will and Kim did not see their differences as "petty." Their differences were massive as far as they were concerned and could only be conquered by Will acknowledging Kim as an equal in the redhead's opinion. For Will, the only way things could be worked out was if Kim yielded that she was inferior to him and that she would cease her pretense of being a warrior. Either of those options might take a while…like several lifetimes.

"I'm here for business, Kim-dono," Betty informed the redhead.

"All right. Do you want tea?" Kim offered, even though she was pretty certain that her mother had already made the same proposal. Her mother always did, after all.

"No, your mother already offered," the one-eyed woman answered.

"All right. Shall we talk out here or do you want to go inside?" Kim asked.

"Perhaps I should let you get into some drier, cleaner clothes," Betty replied.

Kim nodded to show that she appreciated that suggestion. Her clothing, a pair of black hakama (8) and a light, white yukata (9), were drenched in sweat. She had been working out since her brothers left, which was hours ago. Since her brothers were gone, it meant that she would not have to worry about them play tricks on her while she was trying to train herself. She wished that her father took those two out everyday.

Betty waited in the garden while Kim went to clean herself up. The redhead trotted off, grabbing her katanas, which were close by as they always were. The teen never let those weapons out of her sight. Kim had an odd habit of carrying three swords instead of the two swords mandatory of someone of her class. She had two long swords and one short sword. One of the long swords, Betty had never seen the girl draw from the scabbard. She was fairly certain that no one had ever witnessed Kim pull that one katana, which was held in a white sheath while the other weapons were kept in red covers.

The one-eyed woman did wonder about the katana that Kim never allowed to leave its case, but she was not the only one that wondered. Anyone that knew Kim, especially fellow warriors, wondered why she had a sword that she never used. People asked her about it on occasion, but Kim never really gave a straight answer. Sometimes, she would just shrug, as if she did not know why she never used the blade.

No one knew what to think about the fact that Kim never used one of her swords. They knew that she could use her katana as well as anyone else; they had seen her fight countless times. But, because of the fact that the sword was always on her hip and never out of the scabbard, rumors sprang up about the blade just like rumors sprang up about the sword's owner.

Some of the funnier ones claimed that there was no blade in the scabbard. Apparently, some people were ready to believe that Kim was walking around with the hilt and hand guard of a sword for no reason. While she was a strange girl, she took being a samurai very seriously and would never just walk around with an empty saya (10), especially if she knew how ridiculous it looked for her to have the three swords on her small waist.

Judging by the length of the scabbard, the sheathed sword might have just been too long for Kim to wield properly. Betty suspected that was the reason that the weapon was never drawn, but it was probably a family heirloom and Kim carried it around for guidance from her ancestors or something like that. But then again, there was always a chance that the sword in the scabbard was not as long as the cover was, which would blow her theory out of the water.

Now, she would not put it past Kim to have a short sword hidden in the saya of her long sword, but still that did not explain why she never drew the weapon. Some people speculated that the sword had some kind of magic or power or something else. Things like that made people attempt to steal the weapon, but no one had succeeded in doing such a thing yet.

Kim was very protective of that unused sword, which was another reason that Betty suspected that it was a family heirloom. The usually friendly teen often lost her temper if anyone so much as reached for the weapon. She refused to let anyone hold it, or touch it, and she was known to chastise anyone for even looking at the sword, even those who outranked her. Now, Betty understood that a sword was never just a sword to a samurai, but Kim did not act the same with it came to her other swords.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kim apologized as she returned to the garden, looking refreshed and neat. She now had on red hakama with a pink kimono. She bowed to add to her apology and show that it was genuine.

"It's quite all right. I'd rather wait than for you to stand here uncomfortably filthy," Betty commented.

"Well, thank you, ma'am. So, since you're not here to check on me, I'm guessing I've got a mission to uphold," Kim said.

The older warrior only nodded. She sometimes wondered if Kim thought that she was just using the little redhead since she only came by for missions, even though someday soon they were going to be family. Kim was always polite and full of smiles, like the rest of her family, but she was a little less naïve than the rest of her family, having seen a lot in her short life. So, sometimes, Betty wondered if behind those olive eyes if the girl was actually cursing her for treating her like a tool rather than a future niece.

"I've been led to believe that a daimyo (11) is trying to hatch a scheme to take over the government," Betty started.

"Another one?" Kim sighed. It seemed like every week someone was trying to overthrow the Shogunate. Were people really that bored?

"Yes, another one. He's right here in Edo as we speak plotting such a thing."

Kim nodded for a moment. "Wait a second, if he's right here in the city, what do you need me for?" the young woman asked curiously.

It seemed to Kim that Betty really had no use for her. The scoundrel attempting to overthrow the government was right in the Shogun's front yard, which pretty much made the fellow right in Betty's hands, which should have made him practically crucified already. As far as Kim was concerned, they should not even be having the conversation that they were.

"I need more than hearsay that this plan is going to be executed. It's a very delicate operation because of the parties involved," Betty said and she noticed that Kim was going to ask another question, so she stopped the teen. "I need you to gather this information for me to prove that this lord is trying to take over the government," the one-eyed woman explained.

"Well, I shall do my part. All you need do is tell me," Kim replied.

"I expected as much from you, Kim-dono," the elder female said in sort of a praising tone.

Kim was always ready to help, especially if she believed that she was doing the right thing. Betty was glad that the olive-eyed girl was like that since the teen was highly competent. She wished that the redhead would join her staff. But then again, with Kim on her team, Will would blow him top and it would lead to a mess that she did not even want to think about.

"I need you to do some undercover work. Do you think you could handle it?" Betty inquired.

"Anything's possible for a Possible," Kim answered in a confident tone. It was the family motto, even present on their family seal.

Kim's one character flaw in Betty's opinion was that the helpful teen had no humility. She jumped into anything, even before she knew what it was. She just swore that she could do it, which was something that always put her at odds with Will. He seemed to resent that she could do anything if her track record was any indication of her ability.

Now, Kim was ready to jump into doing undercover work, even though it was something that she had never done before. Usually when Betty enlisted Kim's aid, it was for her to track, contain, and return someone. The redhead was just about the fastest person with or without a horse and she had yet to let a fugitive escape. She was great for recovering people and goods.

Kim was also good for sending to help people in distress, but that was something the girl did more on her own. Something like that was not Betty's affair. The point of the matter was that Kim was more an upfront and personal type agent to use and not accustomed to working undercover, especially in the manner that Betty wanted her for.

"All right, Kim-dono. If you think you're up to this assignment, tell me now," the one-eyed woman said.

"I am very much up for any assignment," Kim declared while making a fist as a display of her strength and talent. She could do anything.

"Then I need you to go undercover as a geisha," Betty stated and Kim's expression dropped from one of confidence to one of utter disbelief as soon as the words reached her ears.

"Geisha?" the redhead echoed to make sure she heard right.

"Yes," Betty confirmed. If she was a lesser soul, she certainly would be laughing at the girl's expression right now. Perhaps Kim had just learned a valuable lesson; never agree to do something without knowing what that something was.

* * *

1: Chahakobi-ningyou: tea-serving dolls

2: Ohayo gozaimasu: good morning.

3: -sensei: doctor (M.D), teacher, master, or title used when talking to people in certain professions.

4: -sama: formal Mr., Mrs., Ms. Or addressing someone of high ranking.

5: Zori: sandals.

6: Jian: a straight sword that is meant to pierce and is light and maneuverable. Pretty much like the sword from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

7:-dono: last time I checked it was an honorific title for samurai or to express that you see someone as an equal out of respect. If I'm wrong, let me know.

8: Hakama: wide-legged pants.

9: Yukata: informal summer kimono.

10: Saya: scabbard.

11: Daimyo: samurai lord.

* * *

Next time: things get weirder as Yori is recruited for this mission and you get to see who's going to whip Kim and Yori into form.

A/N: okay, so, if you spotted anything wrong with this, let me know. I want the story to be enjoyable and halfway accurate, even though it's a strange blend for me with history and the KP universe.


	2. The Impossible

I don't own these characters.

2: The Impossible

"Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second," Kim said while shaking her head.

The remarkable teen was obviously having trouble because of the task to which she just agreed to do. Director Betty, leader of the Shogun's secret police, had just recruited her for a mission, which was nothing new. The new thing was that it required her to go undercover and that she was going to have to pretend to be a geisha.

"You can't be serious," the teenage redhead objected.

"I'm very serious," Betty insisted in her usual calm tone, which let the petite warrior know that she was as serious as always.

"But, there are a lot of things wrong with that plan. Don't you have people that do stuff like this anyway?" Kim inquired in a slightly desperate tone because she would like to wiggle out of the predicament now if she could.

"I'm stretched rather thin at the moment."

Betty had lost a few agents recently to several incidents. If she had those agents, she certainly would not need or even think to ask Kim to do what she requested. She only went to Kim because she believed that the incredible teen could pull it off. She had faith in the redhead to do pretty much anything, even though she did believe that Kim was a bit weird.

The operation was more delicate than a flower arrangement and she preferred that Kim handle it to any other agents that she had left because they were far from subtle. She also figured that if anything went sideways, as things had a habit of doing recently, Kim would be able to get herself out of any trouble, as that seemed to be the teen's habit, maybe even her talent. She hoped that things did not come to that because lately her agents seemed to have a lot of bother getting out of situations gone wrong; she was beginning to think that they might be incompetent or worse yet, stupid. She did not want something to happen to Kim; the girl was her future niece, after all.

"But…but…I don't know how to be a geisha. Surely you have someone else that could this," Kim argued, attempting to keep control of herself. She wanted to add plenty of wild hand and arm movements to get her point across, but she refrained due mostly to her noble upbringing.

"I wish I did. You're the best person I have for this job, so it's on you, Kim-dono," Betty replied. She was aware that if she was patient and explained everything, Kim would cave in.

Betty was not sure why Kim would give in, but she knew that the redhead would fold like a fan if enough time passed. She was not certain if the inevitable was due to what Kim's best friend referred to as her "natural Kim-ness," which was what made the girl competitive and helped her believe that she could do anything. Kim did not accept failure or that there was something in the world that she could not do as well as anyone else.

Maybe the fact that the teen held an endless desire to help out whenever she could was the reason that she was going to give in. Or maybe Kim would just end up curious and want to see if she could pull it off. Or perhaps there was just the fact that it seemed challenging. It could have always been a bit of all of those things. But, whatever it was, the girl was going to fall like an avalanche and stand by her impulsive agreement and the one-eyed woman knew that to be a fact.

"But, why is it on me? I don't know anything about being a geisha," Kim pointed out. She was a noble, a swordsman, an all around martial artists, and maybe even a bit of an acrobat. Mixing in any of those elements made her a poor candidate to be a geisha as far as she knew, not that she knew much about being a geisha.

"Should I go down the list as to why I've picked you for this job?" Betty asked the olive-eyed warrior.

"It might help," Kim answered honestly because she wanted to know how it was possible for Betty to need an undercover agent for such a task and she suddenly came to mind. It was actually a little insulting. She was a samurai, after all.

"Well, let's see, you're pleasant to look at. You're well read and well educated, so you'll be able to keep up a conversation if necessary. You know how to carry yourself extremely well. You own several lovely kimonos for the task. And to top it all off, you play the shamisen (1)," the one-eyed woman explained.

"But…" Kim trailed off. She was not totally sure how to object about everything, but given a moment, she did get her mind together. "Do you know what this would do to my family if they found out?" she inquired.

"Kim-dono, I'm not asking you to compromise yourself in any way. You're engaged to my nephew, after all. I just need someone to be sitting in on the daimyo's gatherings who will talk to me when the night is over," Betty replied.

"Talk to you?"

"Yes. You might not know it because it's not something you should ever have to bother with, but geisha do not talk. They don't tell you what happens in the walls of the establishment, no matter what. That's why men go there," the older warrior stated.

Kim nodded to show that she understood that explanation somewhat. She guessed that made sense for men to travel to such a place where everything that left their mouths was confidential. She did not know too much about that side of life because she did not need to know anything about it. Well, she had assumed that she did not need to know anything about it. It probably would have done her some good for the moment that she was in now has she shown just an inkling of curiosity toward that aspect of society.

"Okay, even if I agree to do this, I don't know anything about being a geisha," the olive-eyed teen pointed out a third time.

"I already listed to you what you do know and will come in handy. Besides, you don't have to worry about not knowing anything. I'll handle that," the brown-haired warrior assured Kim.

"Am I going to have to do this on my own? I mean, if there's a whole bunch of these guys, I wouldn't be able to gather information from all of them," Kim said. She was no longer attempting to worm her way out of things, but just stating something that was evident. She was but one girl and they could be several plotters.

"It's all right. I'm going to go get Yori-san to go with you."

"Yori-chan (2)? Ron-kun (3) would never agree to that."

"Let me worry about Stoppable-san. You just need to get ready," Betty stated.

"How long will this take? You know my parents get worried when you keep me out for more than a week or so," the redhead commented.

"I know your parents worry, but I don't know how long this mission might take. I just need it to get started quickly before the plot takes place and they're trying to storm the castle or something else just as insane," the older woman said.

Kim nodded again to show that she understood. "What are we going to tell my parents while I'm gone? You can't tell them that I'm out working in a teahouse or something like that," the teen pointed out the obvious.

"I know I can't tell them that," Betty replied. Oh, that was all she needed to do was tell the respected noble parents of a well-known samurai that the girl was doing her a favor by going undercover as a geisha. Her life was already stressful, but with something like that, she might be forced to commit suicide for dishonoring their family. It would not help matters that the girl was engaged to her nephew. So, there was no way that she was going to allow anyone to know what she wanted Kim to do. It was going to be a more difficult secret to obtain than the path to enlightenment.

"So, what are we going to tell them?" Kim asked almost in a panic already. Nothing had even happened and she was already freaking out about what would happen if her family found out about what she had agreed to. Her parents, though laidback, were not so relaxed that they would take such news well were they to discover the contract.

"Calm down, Kim-dono. I will think of something. I always do," Betty reminded the teen.

Kim took a deep breath to calm herself down, easing her twitching, anxious nerves. She had to remember that whenever she did something a little too bizarre, even for her family, Betty did have an excuse for them. Well, it was more like she had a thorough and well worked out lie for them. The older woman always believed that if Kim could be helpful toward her then she could return the favor in some manner, even though she knew that the girl would not approve of her methods.

"So, are you in?" Betty asked, even though she knew the answer to that question.

Kim smirked confidently; it was like she had been asked if she could walk down the street with no problem. "Hey, I can do anything. I think this falls into that category," she boasted. She was now ready for the challenge since she did not have to worry about the secret getting out.

"All right. Get together whatever you might want to take in case you're gone for a while and I'm going to go pick up Yori," Betty sighed.

The one-eyed female really did not feel up to dealing with young Stoppable-san without Kim, especially since she was going to be trying to take his wife for who-knew-how long to do what-she-was-not-going-to-mention-in-front-of-him. The young man was just so excitable, even though most husbands would lose their cool if they knew what Betty had in mind for his wife.

Now, for the record, the blonde teen was a good guy. He was affable and kindhearted. He attempted to be understanding when it came to certain things that others might see as strange or wrong. And because of those factors, Betty tried to be patient with him. He often helped out, going out with Kim to do favors from Betty since they were best friends; an odd pair indeed. He was a good-natured lad, but he often seemed out of order in his mind and seemed to forget whom he was speaking with all of the time, which would get him into trouble with elders. She did not want to deal with his special brand of madness, but she needed Yori with Kim.

Yori was skilled in information gathering, among other things. She would be a good complement to Kim, especially since Yori was not as skilled in the refined acts being a proper woman. Yori was just what she was, a ninja more or less.

As far as Betty knew, Yori was a throwaway child. Her parents probably could not afford to keep her and just released her into the wild, so to speak. Now, such a thing was very much illegal, but that did not stop some people. She supposed it worked out well for Yori since the ninja was found and raised up by others. Sure, those people raised her to be an assassin, but Yori's life worked out a lot better than most abandoned children.

Yori was still alive, first and foremost, which was not something that other disregarded children could boast about. She was also now married to into a noble family. She had a husband who was understanding, did not mind that she continued her work, even as a ninja, and was well off. Granted, her husband was probably just as crazy as his best friend, though a bit more cautious than she was. But, life was about give and take.

Well, now Betty was going to have to go deal with the madman that was Stoppable Ron. She doubted that he was going to react well that she was going to take his new wife away for at least a week, and it was a week if things were lucky. She would probably have the girls away much longer than a week, which she was very much aware of. She could already see Stoppable hopping all over the place in a most improper fashion before she even got to the reason she was at the house.

Betty exited the Possible manor, putting her sandals back on while she was on her way out. She bid Possible-sensei farewell in passing and then made her way down to the Stoppable residence. The day was getting longer with every step that she took.

The Stoppable residence was different from the Possible household in many ways. One of those being that they had servants. They did not have many, but they had enough to make life easy for the family. There were also no worries about being set on fire or something just as outrageous by a pair of wild twins running around the place like at the Possible manor. She did not have to worry about wondering if the mistress of the household was a fox spirit or not. In fact, she wondered how the Stoppables managed to have the son that they did have considering how normal they were.

When Betty entered the house, it was not hard to figure out where Ron was. She could hear him yelling and from the sound of his voice, she suspected that he was sparring with the person that she wanted to see. She was not surprised to find Ron on the ground, holding a bo-staff while curled up in a ball, begging his petite wife to stop.

Looking at him now, it was hard to believe that he was the heir to a very special style of combat from the continent. Betty was not sure if Ron's behavior when sparring, namely the fact that he almost always lost, was due to the fact that he did not take anything seriously unless it was life-threatening or due to the fact that he really did not know what he was doing more often than not and just got lucky when he went out with Kim on missions. It was a question that no one really knew that answer to, like what came first the chicken or the egg.

"Ron-kun," Yori sighed. Her expression belied her tone because she was looking down at him fondly, even if she sounded somewhat frustrated with his reaction to her attack.

"Do over, do over," Ron said, which seemed to be his favorite phrase when sparring against anyone.

"Why a do over?" Yori inquired.

"I tripped. There was a rock," the blonde warrior lied as he started picking himself up.

"What rock?" Yori asked curiously as she looked around where her husband fell. She would not want him to get hurt on such a rock, so she planned to remove it when it caught her onyx eye. Her character flaw, as far as Betty was concerned, was that the girl believed anything that left Ron's mouth, no matter how outrageous.

"Excuse me," Betty said to called attention to herself.

"Director-sama," the couple gasped. Ron quickly picked himself completely and stood by his wife. They bowed to greet the older woman, but Ron did eye her suspiciously. After all, Betty did not make social calls.

"Stoppable-san, I was hoping that you would allow me to borrow your wife for a few moments," Betty informed them civilly. She just wanted to tell Yori the plan without Ron being around to get overexcited, as he was bound to do.

"Um…why?" Ron inquired in a cautious manner.

"I require her," Betty answered.

"For what?" he asked guardedly. He was usually friendly and if Betty ever came over for a regular visit, she would see that side of him more often, but she did not. While he was not against his wife doing what she wanted, he was against her being recruited on spy missions because of the dangers that she could be in.

"I'll tell her," Betty replied.

"It's all right," Yori assured her husband.

"But—" Ron tried to object, but he was cut off.

"It's all right," Yori promised. They had agreed that she could continue on with her duties after they got married, which meant that she would continue on taking assignments from Betty. He had to and would honor that agreement.

Yori stepped away with Betty and they discussed the mission as quietly as possible. It took all of Yori's self-control to not scream in utter disbelief. There was no way that she could pull of such an assignment, she thought.

Ron watched from a distance with his pet on his shoulder. Rufus looked as interested in what was going as Ron. They both could tell that Yori was not happy with whatever was being said; her body language told that story extremely well. Ron's jaw tensed ever so slightly because of his wife's stance.

"Unhappy," Rufus squeaked.

"Yeah, buddy, that she is," Ron concurred.

They continued to watch until the brief discussion was over. Yori then returned to Ron and tried to explain that she was going to have to go away for a little while without having to tell him why she was leaving. Betty watched the young couple go back and forth, but she did not step close enough to hear what they were saying.

Betty could guess what Ron and Yori were going on about and she was fairly accurate in her mind. Yori was trying to explain that she would be gone for an undetermined amount of time because of serious business, which Ron could understand. He just did not want her to leave, especially on her own. He was trying to tell her that he could help, but Yori was attempting to explain that there was no way that he could help. After all, she did not even want to imagine what Ron would look like disguised as a woman.

Betty supposed that some part of her, somewhere deep down, was a bit guilty for taking Yori from her loving, worrisome husband. The couple had not even been married a year yet and there she was taking Yori away when the couple probably wanted to spend some time together. Although Betty did not see why they really needed to spend anymore time together, considering the fact that they had already known each other for a number of years. They should want a break from each other by now, in Betty's not-so-humble opinion anyway.

Ron put a hell of a resistance in Yori leaving for a mission on her own on such short notice, but he eventually yielded. They stood there for almost an hour, gently countering each other before the blonde surrendered and honored their accord. Yori wanted to help and that was what won her husband over. Betty figured it was a good thing that Ron was such an unorthodox husband or they would have had to go through a lot more than what they had.

The couple said their farewells in private. Betty did not want to be kept waiting too long, though. Yori understood that and made her farewell hasty without hurting Ron too much. As the ebony-haired spy left, she assured her husband that he would always be in her thoughts until she returned, which pacified him somewhat. He desired to beg her to stay with him, but he would not use such a tactic on her, lest she stay out of guilt and that would only bring them trouble. Betty and Yori then went to retrieve Kim, who was ready to go.

While Betty made up some excuse for why Kim was leaving, Kim and Yori looked at each other. They did not say anything to each other, but their eyes conveyed an identical message. It was crystal clear that they were thinking the same thing: how the hell did we get into this mess?

* * *

Kim and Yori stood quietly at the back of a room while Betty waited patiently for someone that she had described to the teens as "a friend." As far as they understood it, the "friend" was going to help make them pass as geisha. They figured that the "friend" had to practice magic then because there was no other way that a samurai and an assassin were going to pass for anything aside for what they were.

Their attention was drawn to the front of the room as a woman entered. The girls both showed no outward signs of a reaction toward her, but they were both considering how beautiful the woman was. They glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. They were going to have to look like that? They quickly began making backup plans because now they were all but certain that the undercover plan was going to fail.

"Betty-san," the woman greeted Betty as she sat down formally in front of the one-eyed woman. The newcomer smiled softly, almost coyly at Betty.

Yori and Kim glanced at each other again. "Betty-san?" their eyes seemed to ask each other. It seemed awfully familiar in their opinions and they were unaccustomed to hearing anyone refer to Betty in an almost friendly tone. They supposed things could have been stranger. She could have always said "Betty-chan," which might have guaranteed Kim and Yori believing that they had gone mad at some point in time while in the room.

"Good day, Vivian-san," Betty greeted the woman in return.

The woman, Porter Vivian, was a tall blonde female with striking eyes as blue as the sky, which was something else that caught Kim and Yori's attention. They figured that it probably paid to be blonde if she was what they thought she was. The exotic look probably brought in many customers, they considered and they were rather correct in that thinking.

"Betty-san, I just want to remind you that this thing you ask of me is almost impossible," Vivian said in a plain tone.

"Nonsense," Betty replied.

"First of all, if it gets out that I helped the government, my business is blown. No one would ever come again."

"They won't find out," the one-eyed woman tried to assure her nervous friend.

"Second, do you know how long it takes to be able to perform this job? I could sooner train a horse to walk on water than two of your people to do this," Vivian argued, seeming rather polite, even though she was insulting the quiet females in the room.

"Would you at least look at them before casting such a dismal decision," Betty requested.

Vivian sighed and turned her sky blue eyes over to the girls. She stood up gracefully; up until that very moment, Kim and Yori had no idea that standing could be done with such style and grace. She walked over to them and thoroughly inspected them without saying a word. They did not speak either, even though they did not enjoy being eyed like objects at a market.

"Would you consider selling the redhead to me?" Vivian inquired in her usual tone, so it was difficult to tell if she was kidding or if she meant that question.

"Vivian," Betty said while Kim was close to snapping. Did that woman not know who she was, Kim silently fumed.

"What? Men would come from far and wide to see her," the blonde commented.

"I can't sell you this girl. Just make them believable in a week," Betty said.

"A week?" Vivian nearly shrieked, but she gained control of herself just in time to keep her tone even. She turned her attention back to Betty. "Did you say a week?" she asked.

"They need to be in there and finding out things, unless you're going to supply me with the information I need," Betty replied.

"I've already given you more than I was supposed to," the blonde beauty pointed out as she returned to her seat in front of Betty.

"And you won't have to give anymore if you take them through a crash course. They might not look like it, but they're very bright and they pick up things quickly. Give them a week and surely they'll pick it up," the brunette woman stated.

Vivian looked at the girls. "They don't look that quick," she remarked with a teasing smile.

"You shouldn't judge them by looks. Besides, weren't you just offering to buy the redhead?" Betty retorted with a taunting smile of her own.

"Still, what you ask of me, impossible. They probably can't even walk in a proper kimono," Vivian commented. The teens were not wearing formal kimonos. They had come out in hakama, which was their casual wear.

"You're just going to be difficult about this?" Betty asked.

"I'm being realistic," the blonde answered.

"Girls, could you wait outside for a moment?" the one-eyed woman pretty much ordered the teens.

The younger warriors did not argue. They were not happy to just stand there and be belittled by the blonde woman. They silently exited the room and wondered what the two older women were going to talk about. They wondered if they were going to be going home much sooner than expected.

"Do you think we can do this, Kim-chan?" Yori asked curiously.

"Come on, Yori-chan. We can do anything," Kim answered confidently.

"What do you think they're talking about?" the ebony-haired young woman inquired. Kim shrugged; she had no idea what they were going on about. They looked at each other and nodded. They cracked the door to look inside.

* * *

"Vivian, why must you be difficult?" Betty inquired in a low tone, just in case certain pair of spies were trying to do their job before they were even at the location they were supposed to be.

"Perhaps I just want you to stay around a little longer than usual," Vivian replied.

"You know I'm busy."

"I know," the blonde admitted with a small shrug and matching smile. She did appear a bit disappointed, though.

"Can you teach them or not?"

"And when you do come by, you're so tense and huffy. It almost makes me never want to talk to you again," Vivian commented and pouted something fierce, as if the expression was weapon that she was brandishing.

Betty sighed. "Vivian, please, just help me out here."

"What's in it for me? This is such a difficult task and against so many understandings that I have with my clients. I mean, we are discreet," Vivian reminded the warrior woman.

"Just use them on the party that I need information from and they won't have to know anything about your other clients. I'm sure you can figure out a way for them to blend into a room and not have to do much."

Vivian seemed to think on the matter. "What's in it for me?" she asked again with a smirk.

The one-eyed woman just sighed again. If only she was not going to need Vivian again sometime in the future, she would not put up with the little game from the blonde. She then leaned forward and whispered something into Vivian's ear that made the blue-eyed female smile. As Betty pulled away, she ran a finger along Vivian's elegant jaw.

"All right?" Betty inquired as she sat back down.

"I guess I can try to do something with them, but I can't make any promises. A week is nothing unless they've already done this before," Vivian replied.

"They'll be fine," Betty commented, trying to sound reassuring. She hoped that they would be fine anyway.

"For both of our sakes, you better be right," Vivian replied. "You're going to call them back in now?"

"You want to sit here alone for a moment, don't you?" Betty asked because she knew the blonde very well and often knew what was going through her mind.

"It would be nice."

"Fine," Betty agreed and Vivian smiled.

* * *

Kim and Yori glanced at each other and then turned their attention back to the small slit in the sliding door. They were not too sure what they were looking at and they glanced at each other with the hope that one of them would be able to explain it. Neither of them had any rationalization for the other, so they just continued looking on. Perhaps the scene was like a puzzle that they were required to put together and it as necessary that they concentrated on it for a little longer.

"You two," Betty called after a few minutes, which almost caused the two teens to jump. They maintained their cool.

"Yes," the duo answered.

"You can come back in now," Betty informed them.

The pair slid the door opened and reentered the room. Kim shut the door behind her and stood by the shoji with Yori. They looked at the older women, who were sitting as they were when the teens had exited the room minutes ago.

"You two pretty much belong to this woman now," Betty informed them while motioning to Vivian.

"Get ready for the worst week of your lives," Vivian told them with a rather scary smile. Kim and Yori glanced at each other; what the hell had they gotten into now?

* * *

1: shamisen: a Japanese string instrument. Think small guitar or banjo.

2: -chan: used to express intimacy and affection.

3: -kun: informal and intimate used to address males mostly.

* * *

Next time: Kim and Yori get a crash course and then are thrown to the wolves.


	3. Pour in the music

I don't own these characters.

3: Pour in the music

"So, what do I call these two?" Vivian asked Betty as she looked over Kim and Yori.

Vivian was going to try her best to get the girls to resemble geisha. She doubted that it would work, but she had agreed already and she knew that Betty needed her help. If Betty needed her, she was there, especially for a price. If Betty treated her as if she held more value to the one-eyed woman, she would not even need a price.

Betty had aliases all lined up for the duo. "She's Akako," the brunette warrior said while motioning to Kim and then she motioned to Yori. "And she's Ayame."

"Akako?" Kim muttered. Oh, yeah, that name was original, she thought sarcastically.

"Ayame?" Yori mumbled. Did she look like an "Ayame"? She supposed that it could have been worse. She could be walking around as "Akako," but of course, the name would not be as obvious on her as it was with Kim.

"Cute names. With luck, I can whip them into shape and none of us will have to die," Vivian remarked with a smile. She was joking and being serious at the same time. She also knew that those were not the girls' real names. She thought that Betty was being overly cautious to not even tell her the real names. She was trustworthy, after all; the one-eyed woman should know that, she thought.

The girls only nodded. They were rather cooperative with everything, knowing it would make things easy, until Vivian tried to take Kim's swords from her. The redhead was not going to need those while she was with Vivian, the blonde promised that, but Kim was not parting with her weapons, no matter what. It quickly and clearly became evident that they would probably have an easier time getting Kim's eyes out of her skull than her swords off of her waist.

"Could you just give her the swords?" Betty sighed impatiently. She wanted everything to go smoothly and with Kim putting up a struggle, things were not running smoothly. The actions made her worry about when she was going to have to leave the teens with Vivian. Was it a disaster waiting to happen?

"I can't just give her my swords," Kim objected. It went beyond the fact that her swords represented her soul, but into a rather complicated area that she knew better than to go into, especially with Betty.

"Just hand the swords over. She's not going to do anything to them," the one-eyed woman stated, her patience wearing thin. If Kim held things up, she had better be a fox like the rumors claimed because she was going to need the all the magic in the world to make it out of that room in tact as far as Betty was concerned.

"I can't just give her my swords. I'll secure them some place on my own when I deem it necessary," the redhead replied.

"Kim," Betty said in a stern tone. It would seem that the plan was going awry before it even got started and it was not making her very optimistic about how the olive-eyed samurai would perform her assignment.

"The only way anyone aside from me is touching my swords is if I'm dead," Kim stated, extremely serious. No one outside of her family had ever touched her swords before and she was not about to break that streak.

"Well, since you're of use to me alive, I suppose no one is touching your swords yet. They're your problem now, Vivian-san," Betty remarked.

"Goody," the blonde commented in deadpan tone. She suspected that she should have demanded a higher price if she was going to have to spend time with a neurotic samurai. Well, it was too late to back out or renegotiate now.

--(New day)

Yori fell on her face yet again and groaned as she hit the ground. She punched the grass in frustration as she hit the ground. Vivian sighed and shook her head; she could understand the younger lady's aggravation.

"You're not making this easy, you know?" the blonde asked Yori.

"This isn't easy. It's impossible to walk in these things," Yori declared. To her, Vivian was making it seem like she was falling on face on purpose, which was rather insulting.

"You're the only one around here that can't do it," Vivian commented in a lighthearted tone. She was not trying to be discourteous, even though she did speak the truth.

Yori was having trouble with two things; one would be walking in a formal kimono and the other would be walking in the formal kimono in a pair of okobo (1). She was not accustomed to wearing a full kimono, considering the fact that she had no need for it until recently. Before she had married Ron, she did not even own a full, formal kimono. The one that she was wearing at the moment actually belonged to Kim.

"Why do I need to walk in these anyway? Can't I just sit in the room and be quiet?" Yori inquired as she pushed herself up from the grass as if she was doing a pushup.

"That is pretty much what you're going to do, but this is just in case. Everything I show you this week is just in case, but for the most part, I want you to sit there and try to do as little as possible. Now, do either of you have any useable talents?" Vivian asked Yori and Kim, who was standing back and watching Yori try to just walk.

The redhead had no trouble walking in the kimono. She was not very accustomed to wearing the okobo, but they were not so difficult for her to walk in after a few tries. She was standing there trying not to laugh at Yori. It was getting easier and easier not to chuckle considering after about the tenth time Yori fell, it was not as funny.

"Is this where I should volunteer that I play the shamisen?" Kim asked since that had been a talent of hers that Betty had brought up when she pitched the mission.

"Good. Ayame-san?" Vivian inquired, speaking to Yori.

"I can play the flute," Yori replied.

"Better than you walk in that kimono?" the blonde woman teased.

"I do a lot of things better than this," the ninja answered in a mumbled. She was ready to throw one of her clogs at Vivian because she seemed to get a kick out of making fun of the shinobi. Kim would get the other one because she could tell that early on the olive-eyed samurai was mentally laughing at her.

"Good. That's the perfect way to make you two part of the wall. You sit back and play your instruments. Just listen in on the conversations. They'll volunteer information to the others and everything should go fine," Vivian assured them.

"How long do you think this'll take?" the redheaded teen asked.

"Not very long. You have no idea how talkative gentlemen are…well, most of them anyway. They do have on curiously silent member of their group, but he's not really important. The two that do talk about what you want to know don't really shut up," Vivian answered with an amused expression. She seemed like such a jovial woman, they noted, but she was also slightly cruel in their opinions too.

"Sounds promising," Yori commented, especially since it would mean that she would not have to walk in the clogs for long, if she ever managed to walk in them at all. She was having trouble with remembering to take small steps. She was also having trouble remembering to keep her feet turned inward. She wondered why anyone would want to walk like that anyway. It reminded her of a bird and people should not walk like birds as far as she was concerned.

"Just try not to get in the way or mess anything up," Vivian pled with them quite seriously. She was only trying to do her civic duty and get something in return from Betty, so she did not need them to ruin anything in her business.

"We want this to go as smoothly as you do," Kim assured the blonde woman.

Vivian nodded. She was aware that they wanted to be in and out as soon as possible without anything going wrong. But, she also figured that they would be more comfortable if something did go wrong and they had to draw their weapons and get into a fight. They had made it clear when she spoke with them to try to understand who she was working with that they were warriors. It was something that they were proud of and wanted it known.

Thinking about that, Vivian wondered what Kim, or as she knew the girl, Akako had done with her three swords that she refused to part with until death. She had not seen the weapons since the ordeal of trying to take them from "Akako." She guessed that was good enough, even though she would have preferred to know where the redheaded girl was keeping everything. Knowing would have set her mind at ease, especially with that pair.

"All right, back to the lessons," Vivian said with a sigh. She silently prayed to any and everything listening that her two "pupils" did not have to be around for too long. It was paining her to watch them try.

* * *

Yori and Kim practiced all night, just as they had done the previous few days. They got very little sleep, if any at all, but the routine paid off some. They were showing signs of improvement by the time Vivian let them go. They could tell from the look in the older woman's eyes that she did not think they were going to pull it off. She did not know that they could do anything, Kim figured.

Well, perhaps they could not do everything. They could not make friends with the other girls for one thing. The other ladies around the place did not seem to like them much for a reason that was beyond the pair. They were not accustomed to dealing with individuals disliking them right from the start.

Yori was beginning to wonder if there were signs on their backs that read "spies" and only they could not see it, which would explain why the other girls disliked them without a reason. Kim was inclined to believe that they were getting "the treatment" because they were new. Either way, they were both in agreement that they hated every female in the building that they were currently staying in and they wanted to go home, where they fit in…more or less.

"Kim-chan," Yori said. They were lying in their room, away from everyone else. It probably would have been a good idea for them to sleep while they were lying down, but the day was getting closer and closer and they were not feeling any more like entertainers or extremely proper women than the day that Betty had given them over to the blonde woman.

"Yeah?" Kim replied.

"We can do this right?"

"Do you play the flute really well?"

"Yes," Yori confirmed.

"Then we can do this. You play the flute, I play the shamisen, and we don't draw attention to ourselves while in the room. It seems like a solid plan," Kim replied.

"What if I get asked to pour tea?" the onyx-eyed warrior wondered out loud and that question sort of threw her spy partner off.

"Yori-chan, you pour tea all the time and now you're nervous about it?" Kim countered with a craned eyebrow. She figured if anything Yori should be worried if they make her walk around outside. She was getting the hang of walking in the full kimono, but the okobo were still tripping her up.

"I'm nervous about this. Wait, how did she talk you into this?" the ninja inquired rather curiously. She knew why she was there, but how in the world did Kim get pulled into such a strange task?

"She asked for my help before explaining the mission."

"And you just agreed before you knew what you were doing," the ebony-haired girl guessed. It was a statement, not a question.

"Ah, you know me well, my friend," the samurai commented with small laugh.

Yori chuckled a bit too. She had not known Kim too long considering how young they were, but relatively speaking, she had known Kim long enough to understand how the exceptional teen got roped into things. Kim did missions because she was extremely kindhearted, almost to the point of it being a failing, while Yori did things out of a sense of duty more than anything else. She was not sure which one got them into more trouble considering that they were both now stuck in situation that she was rather skeptical that they were going to make it out of in one piece.

"Yori-chan, you've got to think positive. You've got to tell yourself you can do this and you can make it and you can, so you will. I mean, you don't get this nervous when they have you sneak into people's houses that are crawling with guards and everything, right?" Kim asked.

"Well…no," the ebony-haired ninja answered. She did that stuff all the time. It was easier to her than walking in a damn kimono that was sure.

"Okay, so approach this like that and you'll be fine."

"Is that how you look at it?"

"I'm just telling myself that it's like any other formal event I've been too, but I don't have to impress anyone," Kim remarked.

Yori nodded. She wished that she could approach it like that, but she had not been to many formal events and the ones that she had been in made her very anxious, sometimes almost scared. She always swore that the people attending could tell that she did not belong and were calling her a barbarian in their minds. Sometimes, she felt like such an embarrassment to her husband, but he never seemed to care what other people thought, which made her feel better about herself.

"We should get to sleep. Heaven knows when that sun comes up, we're going to be scolded fairly hard," Kim remarked.

Vivian did scold them like it was in fashion. She seemed like a very nice and pleasant woman, to everyone except to them anyway. They could understand why she was like that with her ass being on the line and everything, along with their asses, so they did not think too much of it. They were not plotting revenge or anything.

"At least you don't know what the grass tastes like in three different sections of the yard. I can actually tell where we are in the yard by the taste of the grass," Yori commented and Kim could not help laughing.

"Your problem is that you're used to tabi boots or nothing at all on your feet during a missions," Kim teased. There was also the fact that Yori was used to wearing pants rather than a kimono.

"I still say it's impossible to walk in those okobo. Why can't I just wear zori (2) like a normal person?" the ninja groaned.

"You're not a normal person anymore," Kim pointed out.

"At least I get to play my flute during this thing."

"You like your flute?" Kim asked curiously.

"Yes, it makes me feel calm and Ron-kun enjoys when I play for him. You don't like playing the shamisen?" Yori countered.

"Not really. I play it because my grandmother thought it would be a good way to get me to stop taking missions. Goes to prove what she knows. Director-sama came to me because I play the shamisen," Kim replied.

Yori laughed again; okay, that was ironic, she thought. The girls decided that they really needed to go to sleep while they had the chance to indulge in the act. They were going to have a tough time of it in the morning, after all. Well, they supposed things could have been worse; they just could not figure out how at the moment.

--(New day)

It was the moment of truth for Kim and Yori. They were dressed like actual maiko (3); it almost amazed them. They were both slightly uncomfortable with the makeup and they were both looking at each, guessing that the other was considering the same strange notion. Yori wondered if she looked as ridiculous as Kim did with her face painted pure white; Kim was wondering the same thing. While Kim was accustomed to dressing up, everything at the moment seemed like a bit much to her. They both enjoyed looking pleasant and everything, but now it all seemed like a bit excessive. It also did not help that they were dressed as they were for a specific reason and not because they were just going to be two women at a gathering, which was how they were trying to think of the night to come.

The duo was understandably nervous about what was going on; it was taking all of their self-control to just stand still and not express their anxiousness in any manner. They were walking into the unknown big time. Vivian's last words of encouragement were for them to "sit, play, and not talk to anyone no matter what." Did she think that helped! It only made them more apprehensive than ever.

To make matters worse, they had been thrown into a group where the main female truly seemed to detest them for some reason that was beyond the duo. They believed that her name was Bonnie. And her words of encouragement for them were "stay the hell out of my way" and then she offered them a look that they bet was the same look dogs gave each other before battling to the death.

Bonnie had been instructed that Kim and Yori were only going to play their instruments through the evening. The party that they were entertaining usually did not ask for much anyway. They mostly seemed to desire someone to pour sake, laugh at odd remarks, and play music. Bonnie was all for the new ones just staying out of the way and not screwing up the evening.

"You take that space over there," Bonnie harshly ordered Kim, pointing to a corner that was rather out of the way.

The redhead did not argue and walked over to that corner with her shamisen in hand. Yori followed her before she was given any commands. Bonnie did not say anything, even though she was going to order Yori go some place else. As long as those two maiko were out of the way, everything would run like it always did, she figured.

"Yori-chan, be calm," Kim whispered to the nervous kunoichi (4), whose bottom lip was trembling and revealing her state of mind. Yori's anxiety was only going to make her feel that way, which would not do them any good.

"I can't help it," Yori replied in a whisper.

"You have to calm down. If you keep being nervous about everything, you won't be able to play the flute. Just calm down and think about how you'll be playing the flute in a minute and then you can block the rest of the world out. You can close your eyes and pretend that you're playing for Ron-kun under a beautiful starlight night sky," Kim said.

Yori nodded and that thought did comfort her. As soon as everything did begin, she would be able to play her beloved flute and drown out the world, like she always did when she played the instrument. That was actually why she played the flute; it brought her comfort and always did set her at ease. So, she was all right now that she thought about that. Too bad Kim could not say the same thing.

Kim got about a zero on a pleasure scale when it came to playing the shamisen. She was told that she played well, but she did not like to play no matter how well she did. It was something that she was forced into by her grandmother as a way to make her to behave a bit more ladylike. Being forced to do it for such a ridiculous reason actually made Kim dislike the shamisen and she wished that she played the stupid thing awfully just to show her grandmother a thing or two.

The two spies watched as everything was set up for the party that was about to go on. Kim could not imagine having to attend a banquet everyday like these women had to do. She was not a fan of gatherings because people tended to stare at her or at her mother if she was around. She knew the general reason why people stared, but sometimes, she saw them looking at her shadow or something just as outrageous, as if they really expected her to have the shadow of a fox. Although she had heard that several people claimed that she did cast the shadow of a fox, or that she had a tail, or just some other nonsense. People said the same thing about her mother. People needed hobbies, she thought.

* * *

Yori and Kim began to play their instruments when Bonnie instructed them to do so, even though the room was still empty. The pair watched as the party entered the room. They wanted to practically memorize the faces of everyone that might be involved in a plot to overthrow the government.

The first person to enter was an elderly gentleman. He was slightly hunched over and used a walking stick. There were some bags underneath his eyes. He had on a plain black kimono with a red haori (5). Bonnie greeted him, calling him Senior-sama, which caught Kim's attention.

Kim had heard of Lord Senior. He was supposedly just some very rich old lord who did not seem to know what to do with all of his wealth. Since when did he start plotting against the government? She considered that he might actually just be bored because she had heard he did peculiar things when he found life getting dull.

Behind the elderly lord was his son, a large young man named after his father. He was a huge fellow; practically a giant, and the female entertainers seemed to fall right into him. Although, his facial features probably helped them along in being attracted to the young man and of course, the fact that he was the heir to a vast estate did not hurt at all.

Following behind Junior, there was a strange, creepy looking blue individual. He had beady onyx eyes and a scar under the left one. He was dressed in a plain, blue yukata (6). He did not look very comfortable with being in the room, but Kim did not think anything of that. She glanced at Yori to see if the other spy was wondering the same thing as her, which was "could this get any weirder?"

The answer to their question turned out to be: yes. Things actually got stranger because behind the cerulean fellow was a slender young…man?...with light green skin. He was wearing a mask that covered the bottom half of his face and also a straw hat that he was keeping pulled down, as if he was trying to totally obscure his visage. There was something off about the green-skinned male that struck Kim and Yori as odd and that was that he looked a bit effeminate. The spies now looked at each other as if to ask "is that a man?"

They figured that the green-skinned fellow had to be a man since only men were allowed in the district, aside for the female entertainers anyway. They had to be logical about things, they told themselves. So, they figured that the odd pale green person was a male.

The green-skinned fellow was dressed in a dark green top with black hakama. He sat down next to the blue man and seemed slightly irked with having to be at the banquet. His body language was so tense and he did not even want to take off of his hat, but it was insisted upon by the older Senior. The green-skinned male huffed and removed the hat after making sure his annoyance was known. He then appeared even more annoyed if one of the entertainers came near him.

"Oh, new girls," Junior commented as he noticed Kim and Yori just hanging out in the corner, doing as they were told, namely playing their instruments.

"They play very well," Senior commented while glancing at the duo.

"You're too kind, Senior-sama," Bonnie replied with a small smile.

"Yeah, it's just noise anyway," the blue fellow stated with some disdain in his voice.

"Ah, Drakken-san, you have to learn to appreciate the beautiful things in life," Senior replied.

"I do, but music isn't one of them. In fact, when we take over, I'm having music banned on my half the empire," the cerulean male, Drakken declared soundly.

Senior shook his head in a disapproving manner. Well, it would seem that Kim and Yori were not there for nothing. The group had wasted no time in openly admitting to having something planned against the government. It was a bit shocking for Kim and Yori and they almost were not sure if they had heard right.

"Your half will be for barbarians," Senior commented in an amused tone.

"My half will be for the smart people and everyone will bow to me," Drakken proclaimed in a rather loud tone. It was followed by some rather obnoxious laughter. The noise could not have sounded worse if it was a mule making the racket.

The green gentleman scoffed and rolled his dark jade eyes. It would seem that he was not impressed with Drakken's plans. Kim and Yori silently admitted that if Drakken did succeed, which they were going to make sure he did not do, they were moving if he was going to own the half they lived in.

"Do we have to talk about this? Let's have some food and drink," Junior declared with a smile and that was signal for one of the ladies to pour him some wine.

They all knew that Junior was there for the fun and not the talk. He was there to get drunk more often than not. So, when the sake started, he wanted it to keep on coming until he just could not drink anymore.

Drakken and Senior were a bit more controlled about things. They had drinks while talking about their plans. They were rather open with everything since they were fairly certain that what they said would never leave the room. Senior asked the progress that Drakken was making on the weapons to equip his men with. Drakken assured him that everything was going smoothly and that the weapons would be ready, especially the so-called "ultimate weapon."

Through out the talk, the green-skinned fellow was silent. Occasionally he put out his cup, quietly demanding someone to pour him a drink, but he did not speak at all. He removed his mask to drink his sake, but always put it back in place when he was done with sipping the drink, so his face was not exposed for long. He rolled his eyes many times when Drakken said something to Senior, like declaring he was a genius or something of the like. He also rolled his eyes whenever he glanced at Junior, who seemed to be enjoying the hostesses more than the rest of his party.

"Hey," Junior said out of the blue. He was already drunk and they had hardly been there an hour, but that was expected. Sometimes, he got tipsy in under a half-hour.

"What is it, my son?" Senior inquired.

"You know, whenever we come here, he never does anything," Junior replied while pointing at their silent companion.

"Maybe he doesn't want to do anything," Senior pointed out.

Senior noted a long time ago that Drakken's personal bodyguard was antisocial. The skinny chap did not speak most of the time. He also seemed to mock Drakken with his expressions, but Drakken was too oblivious to notice. Senior was thankful that Drakken was more acute about things when it came to building weapons or their careful planning would be for naught.

"No, I think he needs to do something. So many pretty ladies and he just sits there. It doesn't make any sense. Are you shy?" Junior asked the silent bodyguard, who did not answer. The lack of response did not stop Junior, who turned his attention to Bonnie since she was at his side. "I bet you he's shy. You should give him a private room and maybe one of the girls could loosen him up," the blue-eyed male suggested.

"But, Senior-san, who would we send?" Bonnie asked in a very innocent tone.

Junior looked around the room while the green bodyguard's eyes narrowed. It would seem the slender fellow did not like the fact that Junior was scanning the room for a woman to send him off with. And then Junior spotted the one that he wanted for the bodyguard.

"Take her," Junior said while pointing to Kim.

"Her?" Bonnie echoed while Kim gulped. Her? Oh, boy.

* * *

1: okobo: high wooden clogs.

2: zori: sandals.

3: maiko: apprentice geisha.

4: kunoichi: female ninja.

5: haori: short jacket worn over a kimono.

6: yukata: informal kimono.

Kim's alias and her reaction to it: Aka means red. Akako means red child or bright child.

* * *

Next time: Kim is left alone with the skinny, green-skinned fellow. What happens?


	4. Golden Bonds

I don't own these characters.

4: Golden bonds

Kim looked almost aghast and she missed a note on her shamisen. She was in a bit of a spot, which was putting it mildly in her opinion. Less than an hour into her role as a maiko, she was being ordered to go be alone with a quiet young man, who she was not even certain was a man. The plan had originally called for her to just sit there and play her shamisen while gathering the information that she and Yori needed to complete their work. She really was not prepared for anything outside of that.

Kim turned her attention to Bonnie, who was pretty much her "big sister geisha." She was hoping that Bonnie would think of some excuse so she would not have to leave. Bonnie had seemed to want nothing more out of Kim and Yori than for them to sit in the back and stay out of the way, which was why Kim thought that Bonnie would assist her to keep her where she was.

Bonnie had actually been instructed by Vivian to make sure that Kim and Yori did not get much attention drawn to them. Bonnie was not sure why she had been given such commands, but those were the standing orders and she knew better than to disobey Vivian's orders. Still, she looked at Kim with disdain in her turquoise eyes, which left Kim puzzled. Why was she getting such a horrible look?

"Senior-san," Bonnie practically cooed, speaking to Junior since it was his suggestion that the silent green bodyguard take Kim to private room. "That one is new. Surely you want someone with better experience to tend to your friend," she said.

"No, no, no. That one's perfect. Her red hair is pretty," Junior commented.

Bonnie frowned; apparently, Kim had been chosen because of her exotic look. Usually, the only exotic look that Bonnie had to put up with was Tara, who was blonde. But, she did not consider Tara much competition on earning patrons because Tara was rather average underneath that blonde hair. She was going to have to see if Kim was the same.

"Don't do me any favors," the green-skinned bodyguard grumbled in protest. He was happy with just sitting there as long as the wine kept coming to help him block out the nonsense that Drakken was going on about. It was a good thing that geisha did not share conversations, he thought because Drakken Senior had gone over the plan several times already in front of the same group of women. If those females had some among them that were good with tools, they could use the scheme to take over the government on their own before his boss got around to it.

"No, no, no. I insist. I want you to lighten up and have some fun," the drunken Junior replied. "You," he called to Kim.

Kim gulped. Should she answer? Should she pretend that she did not know who he was talking to? She was not sure, but that did not seem to even have to be an issue.

"What's her name?" Junior asked Bonnie.

"Akako," Bonnie answered, trying to hold back the venom she was feeling from seeping into her sweet tone. It was a hard thing to do between gritted teeth.

"Fitting name. Akako, come," Junior called to Kim again and he motioned for her to come over to him.

Kim glanced at Yori, who just continued to play her flute because she did not know what else to do. The redhead bit her lip before doing as she was ordered. She put her shamisen down and went over to Junior. Yori silently prayed that nothing went wrong.

"Akako, maybe you can go and cheer my friend up. He's always so gloomy, even in the company of so many beautiful women. Surely a creature with your looks can pick his spirits up," Junior said to Kim.

"Um…" the redhead hesitated. It was not like she could decline, but she did not know what she was expected to do in order to "pick his spirits up."

"I'm sure she can," Bonnie concurred and Kim glared at her. "I can arrange for another room," the tanned female added.

Kim could have sworn that Bonnie was supposed to be on her side. Bonnie was supposed to make sure that she just sat in the back and played the shamisen. It would seem that Bonnie was now being spiteful for some reason that Kim could not figure out; it was not like Kim had done anything to the tanned female.

Bonnie smirked at Kim as she stood up to go arrange for the room. She figured that she would teach the redhead a lesson, especially since the little maiko appeared rather nervous about the arrangement that was going down. While Kim was busy being anxious, the quiet bodyguard tried to protest once more, but Junior urged Bonnie to go get the room anyway.

* * *

Kim looked around the dark room that she was sharing with the silent bodyguard whose name she had not even caught. The green-skinned male was looking around too and then he suddenly flopped down on the floor. He sighed and turned his attention to the little maiko in the room.

"You can leave," he informed her in a disinterested tone.

Kim seemed shocked by that dismissal, as if she had just been told that she was utterly useless. She should have been happy to hear that she could leave, she told herself. She did not know what she was supposed to do in the room alone with him and she really did not want to know. But, she did not leave for whatever reason.

The reason that she stayed might have had something to do with the fact that he had ordered her around and she had a problem with being commanded by someone that she did not know. Or it might have had something to do with the fact that she considered she might be able to get more information from him about the plot to overthrow the Shogun, like when the scheme was going to start. Whatever the reason, she remained where she was.

"You sure you don't want any company?" Kim asked.

"I don't," he replied in a gruff tone that it seemed he was forcing, like that was not his natural voice.

"I can see why with the 'intellectuals' you hang out with," Kim commented. She was going out on a limb because if he took offense to that statement, she would be in trouble.

"Yeah," he grumbled.

"Why hang out with people you don't seem to like?" the redhead inquired.

"What, everyone you surround yourself with is someone you love and adore?" he countered with a bit of a laugh.

"All right, I guess you got me there," Kim conceded.

"Yeah, so like I said, you can go away," he repeated.

"Yeah, I can see why you would want to be left alone with friends like that," Kim remarked. She figured that it was safe to say again since she got away with it a first time.

"They're not my friends."

"No? So, you're hanging out with people you don't even like and they're not your friends?" Kim asked.

"Once again, I'm sure everyone you hang out with, you love and adore, but most of the world doesn't work like that. Sometimes you have to put up with people that you really just want to slap around," he replied.

"All right, I know that one too," Kim yielded honestly.

"I'll bet you do with the way your 'big sister' sold you out like that."

"Oh," Kim muttered in a sheepish tone. "You noticed that, huh?"

"Yeah. She probably looks at you as a threat. Her big, blue-eyed idiot likes things he hasn't seen before and I'm pretty sure the mountain of red hair flipped a switch in him," the bodyguard commented.

"Then why'd he send me off with you?"

"Hell if I know. I told you he's an idiot. Maybe he thinks he's sharing or something. I don't know how his mind works and I really don't want to know how his mind works," he remarked.

"I know someone like that too," Kim commented. She was thinking of Ron. She did not know how his mind worked and she really did not want to know. She doubted that Ron had anything else in common with Junior, though.

"Well, I'm starting to pity you right now," he said sarcastically. "Look, it's pretty obvious you're not going to leave for whatever reason, but since you're here, light a lantern and pour me a drink," he commanded.

Kim did not argue that, as she knew she was not supposed to. She went and lit a couple of lanterns to illuminate the room. She also went and poured the green-skinned male his drink. She sat formally across him as he sipped his drink and made sure his hat was covering his face; when he had left his party before, he had sure to take his things with him.

"So, what do I call you?" Kim asked.

"Yojimbo (1) is fine," he answered.

"You know it's all right to tell me your real name, yojimobo-san," Kim pointed out.

"Yeah, I've heard that before," he replied. He was not a trusting creature and he did not care how much his employers swore that it was all right for him to speak openly around the entertainers, he still did not believe that. He was not saying anything to anyone about anything.

"You're a rather protective person, huh?" she asked.

"So what if I am? None of your business," he pointed out bluntly.

"You got me there."

"I'm sure I do," he said and then he glanced up at her. "You know, you can have a drink too," he said. Drinking alone was not much fun, especially when someone was around him who was not a complete and total ass so far.

Kim smiled a bit and shook her head to decline on the offer. It would seem that the bodyguard was not having that, though. He figured that if he could stand drinking with Junior, then he would have no problem drinking with the girl since she had not proven that she was an idiot.

"Come on, pour yourself one," he pretty much commanded.

Kim decided that she might as well do it to avoid arousing any suspicions. She did not have anything against sake, but she typically did not drink. She got kicks out of other things in life. She poured herself a cup and began to sip it.

"It's better to drink with company," he commented in a low tone. "Which is probably why I don't drink as often as I'd like to."

"You don't have any friends to drink with?" Kim asked curiously.

"You've met the people I'm hanging out with. They would be the group that I know and that's about it."

"So, you do like them?" Kim guessed.

He was quiet for a moment and sipped his drink. "No, not really. It's just that I picked them. You might not get it, but it's nice to be able to choose who you'll be around and what you'll do with them."

Kim thought about it. She did typically choose who she got to be around and what she would do with them. She and Ron ran around doing almost whatever they wanted, no matter how inappropriate other people might think it was, and they had always been able to do that. When Yori joined their duo, she also got to run around and do almost anything that she wanted, which she enjoyed thoroughly. Yori sort of reminded Kim and Ron that they had always lived unique sorts of lives by being able to pick who they desired to be around and do anything that came to mind. Everyone could not do that and she knew that. She bet that it was great for someone to do such a thing if they could not do it before.

"Do you enjoy your gilded cage?" he asked out of the blue.

"There are worse cages," Kim pointed out.

He nodded. It would seem that he had found some thinking company considering no one else he was with would have thought to say something like that. It was a small relief, like being given warm soup on a freezing cold day, and he hoped that the little shamisen player continued to offer up good responses. It might improve his disposition, especially since he did not want to be there anyway.

"A cage is still a cage, though," he stated.

"If that's the case, one can lament, accept, or escape," she replied.

"Which have you chosen?" he inquired.

"I'm not sure yet."

"If you're looking for advice, I'd suggest escape," he said. "But, that's just if you're looking for advice."

"Did you escape a cage, yojimbo-san?" she asked curiously.

"Maybe I did, maybe I'm just offering up conversation," he answered cryptically. It seemed that he was trying to offer up intriguing, yet pointless conversation if his answers were going to be so mysterious.

"If I ever make a decision, I'm sure I'll take your advice," Kim replied. She was certain that if she ever was in a cage of any kind, no matter how nice, she would escape. She tried her best to not stay some place or do something that she did not want to, unless her parents or grandmother were making her do it.

"Good. You should always do what you want to do."

Kim nodded in agreement with that and he noticed. He did not expect her to understand and he was in some disbelief that she did agree with his words. He did not see how it was possible for her to comprehend his words since she had probably spent her whole life in her current cage, doing what others told her to do. So it was a little odd for her to agree with him on always doing what she wanted since she had probably never done anything that she truly desired, but then he thought that it was just the girl pretending to comprehend. She was paid to be pleasant and friendly, after all. When that thought entered his mind, he stopped talking.

"Yojimbo-san?" Kim said after a minutes of silence.

"Pour me some more to drink," he ordered in a curt tone.

"Yes, sir," Kim replied and her mouth almost could not form the words. Her hands did not want to pour drink, but she forced herself to do it. "Have I upset you, yojimbo-san?" she asked curiously because he had stopped conversing and his tone with her was different from when he had been talking almost casually with her.

"No, but sometimes people need to just enjoy the silence," he answered.

Kim nodded and sat quietly. The bodyguard did the same while sipping his drink. He glanced up at Kim every now and then, but his hat hid his eyes and masked his actions. She had her hands resting on her knees with her hands balled up into slight, somewhat tense fists. She did not appear very uncomfortable, but there was something about her that seemed off, but he could not figure out what it was.

He decided to inspect the petite entertainer while they were just being quiet, hiding underneath his hat to avoid seeming interested in the little hostesses. The red hair did stand out. It looked like the same color as fox fur, he thought. And then he found himself looking at the shadow that she cast, just to make sure that the girl was not a fox. He then mentally scolded himself for doing something he decided was silly.

She was cute, he noted, but then again, he reminded himself that they were made up to look cute. He did not see why men wasted their money on such an image. She was not really like what she showed, so why did anyone bother? Was that it? The image was worth more than anything else? That would not stand up any place that counted. He bet that she could not do anything worthwhile, aside for playing the shamisen, but that was not really useful.

Kim felt the bodyguard's eyes on her, but she could not tell if he was watching her or not because of his hat. She was not sure why he was watching. Maybe it was something that he normally did when he was drinking with someone. Kim decided to just sit there and let him examine her because she could not do much else, except maybe return the favor.

She stole a few glances at him to try to put together a picture of what he was like and if he would yield anything useful to her cause. He seemed guarded, even though he was supposed to be relaxing. He just seemed tense and she was not sure why. Was that how he always was or was he just guarded around her?

"Girl," he said, disrupting Kim's thoughts. He was going to ask something.

"Akako," she corrected him.

"Girl," he repeated and then he decided that he did not care about the question that had been on his mind. "Thanks for the wine."

Kim just nodded; it was something that she was supposed to do. He glanced at her and then decided that he did not care about what she could or could not do, even if she seemed to have a slight intellect considering the couple of answers that she had come up with to his questions and the fact that she had not managed to totally piss him off like many people did when they were around him for more than a minute. She did not matter, though.

* * *

Vivian frowned as she sat in a room with Bonnie, Kim, and Yori. Yori did not understand why she was even there. It was not like she had done anything wrong. She had sat there and played her flute the whole night like she was supposed to. Technically, Kim had not done anything wrong either.

"Bonnie, I thought it was understood that Akako and Ayame were to stay in the room and play their instruments," Vivian said in an even tone.

"Vivian-san, I can't control it if Akako-chan leaves with someone," Bonnie argued in a tone that was level because she knew better than to raise her voice at Vivian.

"I told you to look out for them and not to let them leave the room. They're not ready for that," Vivian pointed out.

"But, I can't control her," the tanned female debated.

Vivian did not want to hear that, especially since she knew how domineering Bonnie could be. If Bonnie wanted to stop "Akako" then she would have done everything in her power to get the girl to stay there. Sure, Akako might have put up a fight, but things would have gotten to the point where someone would have been called and Akako would not have been left in a room alone with silent bodyguard.

"Bonnie, you can go," Vivian dismissed the turquoise-eyed female.

Bonnie was about to argue more, but the look in Vivian's eyes told her to just leave while she had the chance. It was never a good idea to anger or provoke the boss, so Bonnie did not even open her mouth. She calmly climbed to her feet and exited the room. The others watched her leave and then turned to each other as the door was shut firmly. Kim and Yori looked at the floor rather than at Vivian, trying to seem ashamed as best they could even though they were certain that they had not done anything wrong.

The pair was not sure if they were going to be scolded or not and they would rather not be admonished by the blonde female. They were uneasy from the fact that they were probably going to be barked on. They had already discovered that Vivian could reprimand with the best of them from their short stay with her. They had strict martial arts instructors that were kinder than Vivian was if they messed something up. The way she spoke to them when admonishing them, if they were not humiliated when the talking started, they certainly were when it ended. Her very presence made them nervous in a way that they could not associate with anyone else in their lives, except maybe Director Betty.

"Akako, everything was all right?" Vivian asked in a surprisingly understanding tone, which actually went by the ill-at-eased redhead.

Kim thought that she was going to be chastised for disobeying the blonde and that was why she missed the almost sympathetic tone. She expected harsh words because she had left more than her corner, after all. She had left the whole room and the supposed watchful eye of her "big sisters." She knew better than to offer up any excuses for her behavior, but she might as well answer the question, she figured.

"Everything was all right. Yojimbo-san only wanted to be left alone," Kim answered, doing her best to not fidget as she responded.

"Yet you stayed in the room with him until his party left," Vivian noted.

"He didn't want to return to them and he wanted someone to pour him drinks," the redhead explained.

"All right. I know I told you already, but you don't need to do anything that you don't want to. I mean, Betty-san did trust me to take care of you and I'm pretty sure that having you do something you don't want to isn't taking care of you," the blonde woman commented.

"Nothing happened," Kim insisted. Yes, she had stayed in the room with the bodyguard until his people left, but she had done that because he did want someone around to pour him drinks. Every now and then, he would say something and they would have a little conversation, but nothing else.

"All right, all right. Nothing has to happen either," Vivian informed them.

The blonde did not want the spies doing anything that they would not usually do on a job or anything that they might feel compromised with. She had a feeling that they were not just any spies, especially from the way Betty had pled with her to take care of the girls. There had been a look in Betty's single, onyx eye that seemed to state that she was at more risk than ever using the girls and could not afford something disagreeable happening to the pair. She did not want to do anything that might get Betty into trouble or worse.

Vivian wished that Betty did not do such things to compound the stress in her life by using seemingly special ladies for the assignment. Although Betty might not act it, Vivian knew that the one-eyed woman was not cold and hard like a stone all of the time. There was a side to her that almost no one got to see and because of that, Vivian wanted to keep her out of trouble if possible. Someone had to protect Betty, she thought, considering Betty protected everyone else. Someone needed to be the soft comfort for the person that guarded the rest of the world.

"We understand," Kim and Yori said at the same time.

"But, if we don't do something that they request, would that not be suspicious?" Yori wondered out loud. She did not really like the mission as that thought came to mind because it did seem like there was a possibility that they might have to compromise their moral values for the sake of the mission.

"You don't have to do what they request. If they ask you for something that you don't want to do and they push the issue, you can come to me. I don't want either of you fighting with clients, though. You don't have any weapons on you, do you?" Vivian inquired.

Kim and Yori looked in opposite directions, which sort of answered that question. Of course they had weapons! First of all, there were so many great places to hide weapons when it came to a formal kimono and elaborate obi. Second of all, they needed weapons just in case things got out of hand. Third of all, they always carried weapons. They slept with weapons.

"All right, ladies, hand them all over," Vivian ordered.

Kim and Yori looked at the blonde woman and then they looked at each other. They then turned back to Vivian and sighed. They then began to disarm themselves. Vivian had never seen so many different kinds of shuriken in one place as they piled up all of the projectiles on their persons. Yori was also carrying poisons, kept in small, egg-shaped containers. Kim had two tanto (2) on her on. When they were finally done, Vivian was incredulous.

"What kind of girls are you?" the blonde muttered in disbelief while looking at the foot high pile.

"Cautious," Yori answered the rhetorical question.

"Well, you'll get these back when you're done here. You can go to your room now," Vivian told them.

The pair did not argue that and they left the room. They were glad when they were able to get out of the makeup that they were wearing. They could only wonder how they were going to sleep with their hair done up as it was, but they were going to figure something out. They wondered if they were going to have to wake up early for more training, even thought they had already been thrown in the water. They luckily had swam instead of sank in the situation. It was relieving to have gotten the first banquet out of the way, like they had walked through a torture chamber and come out unscathed.

"Did you learn anything?" Yori asked Kim curiously.

"No, not really, except maybe that the bodyguard doesn't like the people he's hanging out with. He didn't talk about their plot at all," Kim answered.

"Really? The other two just kept going on about how things were going to be when they finally ruled the empire," Yori replied.

"That's great that you learned some stuff. Did they say how or when?" Kim inquired. If they had let such information flow, then she and her friend might actually be able to go home soon.

"No, they didn't. Maybe they'll be back tomorrow and we can learn about it then," the ninja said.

Kim nodded in agreement. Maybe they would not be there that long if the elder Senior and Drakken were as talkative on their other visits as they were that day. Maybe they would even show up days in a row, which would give the spies a quick chance to gather everything that they need. And then, they could go back home.

* * *

Drakken and his bodyguard returned to their home, which was a cave on the outskirts of the city. The cavern was done up in such a way that it was more like a home than just a filthy cave. As they entered the hidden lair, the bodyguard began pulling off the things obscuring his features. The mask and the hat went flying in a manner that showed the wearer was annoyed with the items, even though the hat was a liked piece much of the time.

"Shego, I really wish you wouldn't just throw your stuff around," Drakken huffed as he lit some lanterns make the cave somewhat illuminated.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't need to have that stuff if we didn't have to meet them in a teahouse every time we meet up," the bodyguard huffed.

As it turned out, the bodyguard was a woman. She appeared fairly irked and it had to do with the fact that she had to dress like a guy just to go to a meeting over nothing as far as she was concerned; although she dressed like that most of the time, but that was beside the point in her opinion. All they did was talk about what things were going to be like when they took over, which she thought was stupid anyway. They were mostly pointless meetings and she hated that Drakken always wanted her in attendance.

She understood that the Seniors trusted those entertainers to keep their mouths shut, but she did not trust anyone. She knew that the Shogun had spies everywhere and she was willing to bet that there were some in every teahouse and brothel in the city. And that was why she did not talk when she was there; well, there was that and she was always so bothered with being there that she could only focus on the one good thing about the place, the alcohol.

She thought that it would have been wiser if the Seniors met with her and Drakken at their lair. But, the Seniors would never do something like that. They would want to be some place that showed class and that they had money to burn. Besides, Junior would also prefer some place with women and booze since those seemed to be his two favorite things in life.

"That's where he always wants to meet and right now with him supplying the funding for everything, we'll have to meet there. Besides, they serve good food," Drakken commented.

"You do know that the whole point of going there has very little to do with food, right?" she asked.

"Well, the drink is good too."

Shego decided not to say anything to that. She went to her room to leave Drakken to tinker with whatever toys he was working on for the plot. He was such an idiot, she thought, just like that moron Junior.

She could not believe that Junior had actually arranged for her to be alone with that little redheaded maiko. He did not know that Shego was actually a female, so he probably thought that he was being hospitable by giving up a woman that he probably wanted. Though he did have some kind of thing going on with Bonnie, he more than likely was fascinated with the new maiko because of her red hair and Shego wondered if she should be flattered that he would offer her the redhead. She was not flattered, though. In fact, she was insulted if that was what he was doing because no one deserved to be passed off as a gift as if the person was an object.

At least the redhead understood there was a time to be quiet, even though she did not seem to understand that Shego would have preferred to be left alone. The pale female crawled into bed and was about to go to sleep when she realized that there was a tune stuck in her head. She thought about the song for a moment and remembered it was what the shamisen player and flute player were performing. It was a nice tune and they were talented girls. Too bad they were stuck in their gilded cage, she thought as she drifted off into a light sleep.

* * *

Drakken did not think anything of Shego disappearing into her room. She often did that when they got back from a meeting. He did not need her around after meetings anymore anyway. He had all the materials that he needed to forge weapons. He used to have to spend her out to steal some things if they could not afford to buy them or if the items were illegal, but they had all of those things now and it would seem that Shego was restless, especially since no one ever really attacked him and she was his bodyguard.

Shego often considered her job as his bodyguard as fitting as a pair of adult zori on a child. She tried it on for size and even though it did not fit, she continued on for whatever reason. It was not like he often got into trouble where she needed to use her vast martial artist skills. Her stealth skills came in handy for him more often than anything else and he had not been using those lately, so she had little to do with her time.

He was willing to bet that Shego would be back in her usual form when the fighting started and when he was ruling half of the empire. Little did he know, Shego did not care anything about him ruling half of the empire. She thought the fact that he settled for half just showed he was an imbecile. She had no problem with telling him that too, but he did not listen.

Drakken believed himself to be a genius and he thought that what they were doing proved that. The world would know of his genius too once he managed to take over the country. The world would know how great he was when he ruled over his own state of Drakkon.

* * *

1: Yojimbo: bodyguard.

2: tanto: dagger.

* * *

Next time: Kim and Shego end up stuck together again.


	5. Tell me a tale

I don't own these characters.

5: Tell me a tale

Shego could not believe it, but she was sharing an empty room with the little redheaded maiko again. She recalled that the girl's name was Akako, but she was not using the girl's name for anything. She did not really care to know the maiko's name.

They were alone again thanks to Junior. He was drunk again and swore that "his skinny friend," which were his exact words when referring to Shego that night, could use some "pretty company" again. He did not know that Shego was actually a woman and seemed to think that the bodyguard was just a shy, thin young man, which was actually the effect that she was going for. He was more than likely trying to be friendly toward her. She wished that he would stop trying to do her favors, but she supposed that it could have been worse. He could have been trying to share Bonnie with her and she had already gotten a vibe from that girl that if they were alone, she would strangle the blue-eyed female.

The vibe that she got from Akako was different, but she still did not trust the girl. So, she just sat there with Akako and let the slender entertainer pour her drinks. Akako seemed content with that, even though she did seem a little anxious too from her body language, like it made her nervous to just sit there and do nothing.

Kim did dislike just sitting there. It did not help matters that she was just sitting there and not getting any information from the bodyguard in regards to the plot to overthrow the government. She was used to being active most of the time and her body did not seem to appreciate doing nothing at all. So, as she sat there with her hands gripping her kimono at her knees, she began tapping her thumbs against her knees. Shego noticed the behavior and it was starting to get on her nerves before a minute even past.

"You got a problem?" the green-skinned bodyguard asked in a bit of a curt manner. She thought that the question might get the teen to quit the irksome movement with her thumbs.

"No, yojimbo-san," Kim answered in the soft tone that she had adopted when speaking as a maiko. She used the tone to avoid possibly getting into any trouble with Vivian over sounding rude to anyone.

"Doesn't seem that way," Shego commented. She knew apprehensive behavior when she saw it and she could only wonder what the redhead's problem was. She had not done anything to the girl, so she wished that the teen would calm down because her twitching was annoying. "You know, you don't have to be nervous. I'm not going to do anything to you," the bodyguard tried to assure the petite maiko.

"I know, yojimbo-san," Kim replied.

Kim could tell that the bodyguard was not planning to hurt her or force her into anything. He (Kim was still questioning that status, but as far as she knew the guard was a male) seemed to want nothing more than to lie around and drink sake. He did not seem to drink in excess, so she did not have to worry about how he might act when he was drunk, but she did keep in mind that he might change at anytime during the night. It just did not seem likely that he might change from what she could tell. Her thumbs continued on, though.

"Then why don't you calm down," Shego suggested because she really wanted the girl to stop tapping her thumbs against her legs. It was just irksome. She hated it when someone was jumpy around her for no reason. If she wanted to scare the maiko, she could, but that was beneath her in her opinion.

"I am calm," Kim tried to assure the bodyguard. She was mostly calm. She had already been assured that she did not have to do anything with the bodyguard to compromise herself and that was enough for her to be a bit easy. She just hated sitting there.

"Then what's with your hands?"

"Oh." Kim stopped knocking her digits lightly against her body.

"Why were you doing that?" Shego inquired. Now that the action stopped, she could see that the entertainer was not frightened of her, but she still seemed anxious about something. It was one thing to sit formally upright and everything, but she doubted that she would have been able to knock the teen over with a house as tense as she was.

"No, I'm just not used to sitting around like this," Kim explained.

"No?"

"No, I usually like to keep busy."

Shego nodded. She could understand that only somewhat. She liked to relax when she could, but she supposed that if she was being forced to sit with someone, she would rather be doing something than just sitting there, especially when she was with Drakken and the Seniors. It was almost painful, like having a trillion needles slowly put in her eye, when she had to sit with those three and there was really nothing for her to do. She looked around for something that the maiko might be able to do that would not annoy her if only to get the painted female to stop tapping her hands.

"Why don't you play your shamisen for me," Shego suggested. When she had heard the redhead play the first time, the tune was stuck in her head for the past few days. In fact, she had been humming the tune when she and her party had returned that night for another meeting. Kim and Yori had been playing a different song, but it was just as lovely as the other one.

"Yes, yojimbo-san," the olive-eyed teen answered in the most demure tone that she could mutter. It was a voice that was usually reserved for her grandmother, but it worked well for her current mission.

Kim reached back and grabbed her shamisen, which had been resting against the wall. She began playing the instrument and Shego nodded slightly. The pale woman decided that the girl played well and it was a nice sound to relax to. As time passed, Shego ended up just listening to the music and she did not realize that she had long ago finished her drink.

"Yojimbo-san," Kim said.

"Hmm?" Shego replied.

"Would you like me to fill your cup again?"

"Huh?" Shego then looked down at her empty cup. "No, that's all right. I've had enough for one night. You can stop too."

Kim nodded and she ceased playing the shamisen. She was glad to stop, even though she noticed that her music was getting to the bodyguard. Maybe if she got to play for him a few more times, he might open up to her and trust her once they were able to connect through the music. He might even eventually share some information about the plans to overthrow the Shogun.

Shego tipped her hat over her face a little more for lack of a better thing to do, even though the hat was doing what it was supposed to even without that action; it had been concealing her profile. She had no idea that the shamisen could sound so soothing, but the way the redhead strummed the instrument, it was heavenly. She had no idea that music could be so relaxing. It was unsettling and that was why she told the girl to stop. But, now that the music was done and the room was silent, she wanted something to do.

"Hey, girl," Shego said.

"Akako," Kim corrected the bodyguard.

"Girl," Shego repeated. She was not about to be corrected by anybody, but especially not a maiko. She was going to call the redhead whatever it was that came to mind.

"Yes, yojimbo-san?" Kim asked through clenched teeth. Even though Akako was not her name, she would rather hear that than to be called "girl." She was not even a girl; she was grown woman. It was just that she had to be extra-polite to the bodyguard and cater to his whims as that was in the job description.

"Who taught you how to play the shamisen?" Shego asked.

"My grandmother," the redhead answered without thinking.

"She taught you well. I tried to play it when I was little," the pale bodyguard admitted, also not really thinking. Perhaps that could be blamed on the relaxed state of mind that had been induced by the melody.

"What happened?"

"Well, I didn't get right off the bat, so I slammed it against a tree and decided it was stupid instrument anyway," Shego said with a bit of a laugh. It was the truth. She had tried to learn the shamisen when she was a child, but it seemed too hard and it never sounded right when she plucked the strings. So, she quickly grew to hate it and had a ball breaking it against a tree.

"It is a stupid instrument," Kim concurred.

Shego shrugged. She still liked the shamisen it would seem. She just was not cut out for playing the string instrument. But, Kim played it very well and she would not mind hearing Kim play.

"You hate it, yet you play it," Shego pointed out. She said that because Kim liked pointing out how the bodyguard hung around people that she did not like and seemed to come to a place that the protector did not like.

"Well, if you met my grandmother, you'd know it's better to just do what she says than to argue the matter," the redhead remarked with a small laugh. She did not realize that she spoke in the present tense about her grandmother, but it thankfully seemed to go by her patron too since someone in Kim's position was not supposed to have any ties with her family.

"I don't know about that. I always find it's fun to argue."

"You don't seem like you argue a lot," Kim commented. From what she could tell, the guardian was rather laidback, but she did note that they were in a relaxed setting. The bodyguard was probably different out in the real world.

"Well, not much to argue with you about, unless you don't pour my drinks fast enough," Shego remarked.

"Is that a hint that you want another drink?" the redheaded teen asked in a bit of a comic tone.

"When it comes to drinks, I don't hint. I figure you'd know that by now," the pale woman replied with a smirk that Kim could not really see because Shego was wearing her usual hat.

"I did notice a little," the olive-eyed female said with a little giggle.

Shego chuckled a bit too. Akako was a welcomed change from what Shego was used to being around, even though she did not realize it. There were no harsh exchanges like when Shego spoke to Drakken. There was no reason to roll her eyes like she did at least once a minute when Drakken and Senior were going back and forth with their great plan. But, since talking and being around Akako was so different, it would explain why Shego was not so irked the next time that Junior said she should be alone with Akako.

--(New day)

"Akako," Shego sighed.

"Yes, yojimbo-san?" Kim asked.

"Why don't you just tackle me while you're at it?" Shego suggested.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry." Kim blushed and then sat up super-straight.

The pair was sitting alone in a room, which was becoming their usual with their current meeting being their fifth in less than a month. The reason that Shego had said the girl's name was because she could tell that Kim was staring at her, even though she had her hat pulled down over her eyes. She could just feel those olive eyes on her and she was right about that.

Kim was trying her best to get a look at the bodyguard's face from under the hat, especially since the mask was not on; the cloth covering was lying limp on the floor by the guard's feet. She was still trying to figure out if the bodyguard was indeed a male. Something seemed, well, not right about the bodyguard and she had the notion in her head that it was because the bodyguard looked like a female. She had glanced at the bodyguard's face on occasion, but it always very brief, and all that did was have her think that he might actually be a she.

Shego assumed that she was being stared at for another reason. People stared at her quite often. It had been like that for a long time now. She was odd looking, after all. Her skin was an awkward whitish green color and some people had little problem with gawking at her as if she was a puppet show there for their pleasure and curiosity.

"You wouldn't like it if I stared at you, would you?" Shego pointed out, even though as soon as the words left her mouth, she thought it was a stupid question. As a maiko, the redhead probably enjoyed stares and attention. It meant that she could probably make a lot of money, after all.

"Well, I wouldn't like it, but I'd be used to it," Kim answered, more honestly than she meant to. Well, it was too late to take back now.

"I'll bet you're used to it," Shego said in a teasing tone.

"What do you mean by that?" Kim inquired as if she was offended. She was used to being stared at, but it was not in a pleasant fashion like Shego assumed.

Shego wondered what was with the girl's tone. She thought that was what geisha liked; someone paying attention to them, staring at them because it would more than likely add up to money. Had she judged the redhead wrong? She doubted it and now she was going to prove herself right.

"You know you want people to stare at you, to take in your beauty," Shego said and then she realized that she had practically called the girl beautiful. Now, it was not a lie, but she did think that the makeup made it hard to be a lie. Maybe the redhead was not beautiful when her face paint was off.

"Take in my beauty?" Kim scoffed. People did not stare at her because they thought that she was beautiful, ever.

"Oh, you got a sob story you want to tell me? Crying that they stared at you because you're disfigured in some creepy way or something like that?" Shego inquired in a tone of disbelief.

"You don't know me, yojimbo-san, and you don't know what my life is like."

"Okay, fine, make me cry," the green-skinned bodyguard said with an exaggerated sigh to tease her companion.

"You might just see the face paint and nice kimono and everything and assume that people swear I'm lovely when they see me, but people stare at me because of the same reason Senior-san thinks I'm exotic. They look at me and then they have to check my shadow. They follow me around and whisper things about me. 'I bet you she's a fox,' 'oh, I saw her change,' 'she always runs when she sees a dog.' And I have to listen to this all the time. If that's a good kind of staring, then you can have it," the redhead replied.

"Hey, if you want to trade reasons that people stare, I'll take that one," Shego stated.

"Oh, so you have a sob story?" Kim countered.

The pale woman laughed a bit. She guessed that she should not have called Kim's bluff earlier if she did not want her own words thrown back in her face. Well, she supposed that she had to top the redhead now. After all, there was no way that she could just let the teen think that she won their little argument.

"You've got the red hair. All right, it's troublesome, but if it was really annoying, you could always throw on a wig. I've got green skin, Akako-chan," Shego stated soundly, throwing the "chan" at the end of the name to further tease Kim. It was like that word would make her statement all the more powerful.

"I've seen stranger things," Kim said in a dismissive tone. She really had and stopped noticing her patron's skin color about the second visit in.

"Than green skin?" the bodyguard asked in disbelief. She scoffed a little too to further show that she felt the girl was being artificial with her statement.

"Yeah," Kim replied convincingly.

"How could you have seen stranger things? And besides, you were just staring at me because of the skin thing," Shego pointed out, feeling she would claim victory from that fact.

"Not because of your skin. I just wanted to see your whole face," the redhead admitted plainly. She did not think to be ashamed of the confession. It just did not register to her brain to feel sheepish for a reason that had to do with her present company, but she did not realize it.

"Why? You're a nosy little thing," Shego commented. She was a bit stunned that the entertainer was not eyeing her because she was green, but she hid it rather well and Kim could not see her face anyway to know that she was slightly surprised.

"Well, I haven't seen your whole face despite how many times I've seen you. I was wondering what you look like," Kim confessed. She was curious as to what the bodyguard looked like and if seeing the guard's whole face for more than a brief second might answer the question if "yojimbo-san" was a man or a woman.

"You shouldn't wonder about things that don't concern you. It let's you live longer."

"Are you threatening me, yojimbo-san?" Kim asked in a playful tone. She even smiled in an almost teasing manner.

Kim did not notice it, but she had become quite comfortable around the odd bodyguard. It might have had something to do with the fact that "yojimbo-san" acted so laidback when they were around each other. The protector did not ask anything of her that was outlandish, even though Kim took some offense with having to pour drinks all of the time, but that was because at heart Kim was a samurai and also liked doing what she wanted. Still, it was easy to talk with the bodyguard, when the bodyguard wanted to talk anyway and that seemed to set Kim at ease.

There was also the fact that they spent hours together when they did see each other. They conversed about the shamisen sometimes or other instruments. They had some mildly philosophical discussions on life, surprising each other in agreeing on some points, like one should do what one wished with life. Of course, Shego thought that was more talk than anything else from Kim since the maiko was shut away in the teahouse.

"You'll know when I'm threatening you, Akako-chan," Shego replied, her tone was also lighthearted.

"Well, if you get around to it, just a warning, I'm not easy as you might think, yojimbo-san," the redhead commented.

Shego laughed. She liked bantering with Akako. She was not so opposed to coming out now when her party wanted to go talk about their plans and everything. It was good to get away from them and talk with someone that she did not feel the urge to shove her sword down the person's throat, even if the person did seem to think highly of herself.

"You talk big for a person that pours my drinks and plays me songs on command," Shego retorted.

"Just because that's all you've seen me do doesn't mean it is all I do. Just like because all I see you do is lie there like a lazy frog and drink doesn't mean that's all you do," Kim pointed out.

"You got me there."

Kim smiled just a little, which made Shego smile too. The redhead was a curious creature because she was not acting as modest as the other entertainers. Kim considered that the bodyguard was a curious creature too because Shego did not seem to want to do anything that her "big sisters" told her that many men would try when alone with one of them.

* * *

"That bodyguard seems to have taken a liking to you," Vivian commented, speaking to Kim. They were alone in a room. The blonde woman was just checking up on Kim as she had a habit of doing with the redhead and also with Yori. She watched over them like a mother hen when she could and when she was not scolding them for whatever reason.

"Not really. He still won't even tell me his name," Kim replied.

"So, you're not getting anything from him when he takes you off to be alone?" The blonde was teasing and asking a serious question at the same time.

"He just doesn't like being around the other fellows and he just lies there and drinks," Kim answered with a bit of a blush as she realized what the teasing was meant to imply. The color was visible on her face because she was not wearing her maiko makeup.

"You should work your charm on him. Maybe he'll spill his guts," Vivian remarked with a smirk and a little wiggle to give the girl an idea of what she meant.

Kim blushed even more as she realized what Vivian was suggesting. She would never do something like that! She was engaged for crying out loud. Sure, she was promised to a jerk that she probably could beat up if she felt like it. But, she would never think to do anything like that with the bodyguard, even though he was a lot more interesting than her fiancé.

"I'm sure he's good looking, especially without the hat and mask," Vivian continued on because it was fun to play with the samurai considering the stress that the redhead and Yori had put her through while she was training them.

They still put her through stress once they were in the party because she was not sure what they would do when they were out of her sight. It was not like she could trust Bonnie to watch them since it was clear that Bonnie looked at them as a threat. Bonnie seemed to think that she was going to lose Junior's attentions to the two musicians.

"Surely he would tell you everything if you really wanted him too," Vivian continued to poke fun at Kim.

The redheaded samurai was not too sure how she should respond to such words. She knew that she should take offense to the statement and she did, but she was not even sure where to begin huffing about it. Vivian seemed to notice that she had overstepped the teasing line.

"Don't take it too hard, Akako. I'm only playing. You shouldn't compromise your beliefs for something that you might not even get," Vivian said in her usual tone.

"May I go to my room now, please?" Kim requested. She did not want to be around Vivian anymore because of those words, even if she was playing. She did not want to think of "yojimbo-san" in that manner.

"Go ahead."

Kim retreated to her room, where Yori was already lying down. The redhead quickly did the same. Yori looked at Kim as soon as they were on the same level. Kim could feel the eyes on her, so she turned to face her fellow spy.

"Nothing happened," Kim assured Yori. It was becoming their routine for her to say that because Yori did worry that something would happen to her while she was alone with "yojimobo-san."

"Has he told you anything?" the ninja inquired after breathing a sigh of relief. She thought that something might happen between her friend and the bodyguard. She trusted that Kim would not allow herself to be dishonored, but she did not want Kim to be in such a position.

"Nothing really. You got anything?"

"Nothing much. Drakken-san just boasts that his weapons are great and Senior-sama talks about how good that is and wants to know when they'll be able to arm his men and then Drakken-san goes on that genius takes time. It's all very tedious," Yori reported.

"After that first night, I thought we'd be out of here by now with how openly they talked about everything," the redhead admitted.

"I thought the same," the ebony-haired female concurred.

They both sighed. At the rate they were going, they were going to be there for a while. They were going to be there longer than they wanted, they knew that much. At least they could confirm that there was a plot afoot, but Betty wanted specifics. She wanted to know where the weapons were and who the men were that were going to wield those weapons. She wanted to know what kind of weapons and she wanted to be able to collect those weapons before they were used. In short, Betty wanted to know everything and they had nothing more to offer than they had that first night. They were going to have to put up with things until Betty was satisfied, which was a depressing thought.

Yori missed her husband, after all. They had already been parted for a month. She felt almost empty without his presence being near her and she secretly pined for him almost as if she was involved in a one-sided love affair. Little did she know, but he was doing the same while worrying deeply that something might have happened to her, even though he was getting assurances from Betty that his beloved was "fine."

--(New day)

"You asked for me, yojimbo-san?" Kim asked as she entered a room and sat down.

Shego was already in the room and lying down like she usually was. She liked reclining suddenly. She was the only person in the room because she had come on her own. She had to get out of the lair before she ended up impaling Drakken and she was not going to use her sword when doing it.

"I need someone to pour the sake," Shego remarked. It was the best that she could come up with because she was not sure why she had come there when she left the lair. She had other places that she could do, but instead, she went to see the little maiko.

"There are about twenty other people that you could have called to pour sake," Kim pointed out, almost as if she was scolding the bodyguard.

"Yeah, but I called for you, so get to pouring," Shego replied.

Kim rolled her eyes and moved to do as she was ordered to. As nice as it was conversing with the bodyguard, she was a little irked with having to do whatever he ordered. She put up with it, though. She could not just blow her cover or anything, after all.

"So, where's the rest of your party?" Kim asked curiously.

"Acting like idiots as usual. It's funny to see these morons think they could rule anything and if either of them is smart, one is going to kill the other anyway," Shego commented as if it was nothing, like she was talking about anything else that she would with the teen. Obviously, she was growing rather comfortable with the redhead because that was the first time that she even referenced the plot and she had done it so casually that Kim was stunned for a moment.

"Do you really think so?" the redhead inquired.

"Like I said, if either of them is smart, but I doubt they're that smart," the nonchalant bodyguard remarked.

"Is that what you would do?" Kim inquired.

"If I wanted," was the almost frivolous response. It was clear that she meant those words, but the whole matter seemed trivial to her.

"So, it's not what you want?" the redhead asked curiously.

Shego shrugged. "These morons don't know what it means to rule anything at all. They don't know what life is about. They don't know what life should be," she replied and then took a sip from her cup. She doubted that they truly knew what they wanted out of life and that was why they were going through with their scheme.

"And you do?"

"I know what I want life to be like, but then again, I guess they know just as much. The only thing is that they're assholes about it."

Kim laughed a little bit because she had not expected the bodyguard to say that. Now she was curious as to why Shego was involved in a plot to overthrow the government when it was clear that the bodyguard did not have faith in the people looking to rule and she did not seem all that in favor of the plan. It seemed like an odd thing, but she figured now was a good time to fish for information since Shego was finally being open about things.

"Well, why go with them on this plan if you don't agree with it?" Kim inquired.

"It's something to do, something exciting. It's better than sitting around here pouring drinks and playing the shamisen, I'll bet that much," Shego replied.

"How do you know? You haven't done it."

"You don't ever look to happy to do it," Shego commented quite seriously.

"Really?" Kim asked with some surprise. She was not happy to do it, but she thought that she hid that fairly well.

"Nope," the pale bodyguard replied. She noted that Akako was just about the most reluctant geisha she had seen and she had seen more than most people would guess. The redhead clearly was not pleased with being ordered around, which made it a little fun to command her about.

"Well, just because I don't look happy about it doesn't make what I do any less than what you do," Kim argued.

Shego scoffed. "You'd probably give you right arm to get out of here."

Kim opened her mouth to dispute that, but closed her mouth for a moment. She did not have a retort for more seconds than she liked, which just confirmed what Shego said. But, that did not end the discussion.

"Maybe not the right arm," Kim replied. After all, she did need that arm to wield her sword.

Shego laughed; it was a good idea to come there, she figured. Answers like that were why she liked hanging around the shamisen player. Being around the maiko was way better than hanging around the lair with Drakken or even sitting in a party with Drakken and the Seniors. Plus, she could get on the redhead's nerves a little bit, which was fun too.

* * *

Next time: Kim is questioned about her feelings for "yojimbo-san," after disappearing with the bodyguard.


	6. Star gazing

I don't own these characters.

6: Star gazing

"Shego, will you move?" Drakken hollered at his bodyguard. They were in their hideaway.

"Don't yell at me," she huffed.

"Then move your feet!"

"Why?" she snorted. All she was trying to do was recline against the wall and read a book with the horrible lighting that she had settled for. It was either the horrible lighting in the lair or trying to read by moonlight, which she had tried before. It was probably not a good idea to try it when there was a new moon out, which was when she had done it.

"Because I need those parts you're on!"

"Did it ever occur to ask you like a normal person? You know, use your inside voice?" she teased him. She was going to strangle him in a moment if he did not shut up, despite the fact that she sounded so playful with him.

"Will you just move your feet so I can finish my work!" he screamed at her, obviously missing her point.

"I'll do you one better," the pale woman commented and she got up from her sitting place on the straw mat.

The green-skinned fighter noticed the tiny pieces that she had been sitting on. They had several mats around the cave since it would have been trying to put in wooden floors around the place. She walked out of the cave, passed all of Drakken's cluttered work benches. There were bits of his work on the floor and also tools just all over the place. Every couple of feet was a lantern to give them some light, but they were not helping much since they were buried in a large tomb. She wondered just where she was going as she hit the outside. Once again, she had let her mouth get ahead of her, but she was going to back it up no matter what.

Shego walked to a hill with a lone tree. She sat down and leaned against the tree. She looked up at the sky and saw the half moon peeping out from behind a cloud. She cracked open her book and squinted. Okay, it would seem that she was not going to be able to read by moonlight thanks to those clouds. She probably should have grabbed a lantern on her way out, she considered.

Too late to go back now, she told herself. It was too late because she did not want to go back in there to hear Drakken's mouth, especially after she swore she was leaving. He could be such an annoyance when he was working on his own with all of his little gadgets and gizmos and she hated sharing a space with him when he was like that. She was going to stand by her declaration and walking out.

Well, what was she going to do now? Hmm, she considered that question and an idea came to mind. She took off back into the city. And even though she knew just where she was heading, she did not think anything about it. She supposed that it was all right as long as no one knew that she actually liked someone's company.

It was actually pretty late at night, but Shego did not sleep much and when she did it was usually when the sun was up. It worked out well since she was staying in a cave and everything. She did not have to worry about the sunlight shining in her face when she was trying to sleep. She tended to sleep in the day because she used to be a thief and it was so much easier to steal from homes, or wherever else Drakken needed her to swipe things, so she used to work mostly at night. She also just preferred to be a shadow in the dark, not garnering much attention.

Shego made her way into the district that the geisha lived in. She had to search a few houses before she found the one she was looking for; she blamed the dark for the mishap since things looked different late at night than in the early evening. Then she ran into a small problem by realizing the person that she was looking for probably did not sleep in her makeup, so how was she supposed to know the girl? But, that was easy, she told herself; she would be the one with red hair, doy. It might be hard for her to tell the red hair in the dark, but she always had a trump card if that was the case.

It did not take long for Shego to get where she wanted. She crept into the small, plain room and immediately noticed the two futons on the floor. The beds were empty, though. She was a little shocked when saw how the redhead and her roommate were sleeping. They sat up against opposite walls and as soon as she eased into the room a little more, they awoke.

Kim tackled Shego, which shocked her even more. Yori had a needle shuriken to Shego's throat the moment that she hit the floor. The pale green female silently cursed and wondered why the hell was a trained assassin like herself being taken down by some little musicians. It seemed unreal.

"Akako-chan, it's me," Shego said in a whisper to get them off of her. She was wearing her mask, but not her hat. She hissed a bit as she spoke because she was irked by what was happening.

"Yojimbo-san?" Kim asked in a low tone.

"Akako-chan?" Yori echoed. Was Kim really so close to that bodyguard?

"Could you let me up?" the emerald-eyed bodyguard requested. If they did not, she hated to think of what she was going to do them. Well, what she thought she was going to do to them. Obviously, they were not easy wins.

"Oh, sorry," Kim apologized and then she turned to Yori. "It's all right. He's not a threat."

Yori had figured that much out when the bodyguard called Kim "Akako-chan." The ebony-haired female tucked her shuriken back into the sleeve of her yukata. Kim ceased off of Shego and the green-skinned guard sat up. The bodyguard glanced at Yori, just to make sure that onyx-eyed flute player did not move.

"Yojimbo-san, what are you doing here?" Kim asked.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out," Shego answered as if that was obvious.

"It's the middle of the night," the redhead pointed out.

"I know, but I don't sleep too often and I didn't have anything better to do," the pale woman admitted. "So, you want to hang out?" she asked again.

"If it involves just serving you drinks, I'd rather just go to sleep," the teen answered rather seriously.

"I figured as much. I thought I'd show you some place. What do you say?"

Kim glanced at Yori, who pretended that she was going back to sleep. Shego could tell it was pretense because Yori was laying down on her futon. Now, she had already busted them resting against the wall, so it was pointless to fake sleeping on the bed. She guessed that Yori was just trying to act like she was sleeping in case Kim decided to leave and then she could act like she did not know anything about it. Actually, Yori was pretending to go back to sleep to make sure the bodyguard was at ease and did not suspect anything of Kim.

"We have to be back before sunrise," Kim informed the visitor.

"All right," Shego agreed. "Follow me and I'll get you out of here with no problem."

Kim nodded. She was glad that Shego had said that because she would have settled right into her training and sneaked out of the place with ease, forgetting that she was supposed to be a demure little musician. In fact, she had to act like she had little to no idea on how to go undetected while moving around a building, which was quite a stretch for her because it meant acting completely opposite to what she was capable of.

The redhead left with the bodyguard in her yukata. It was a warm night, so she was not bothered by her clothing. She followed behind Shego, who easily got the both of them out of the house and out of the closed off distract. She made sure that Kim caught up with her as she pulled the redhead toward the end of the city.

Shego brought Kim to the hill with its lone tree that she had been at when she had attempted to read. Kim looked around and wondered why the bodyguard had brought her to the place. Shego was bit confused herself as to why she brought the shamisen player to the area. While she did enjoy the redhead's company, she could not believe that she had brought her to her special, quiet spot. It had been a secret of hers for her alone for about a dozen years. She just went there when she did not have anything better to do or if something was bothering her.

"It's actually nice up here," the teen realized and then it hit her that she said that out loud.

"It's better on a clear night. You can see a lot of stars and the moon and plus you get a good view of the city that you can actually see because of the moonlight," Shego replied.

"Well, maybe one day I can see it again with the stars and moon added to it," the younger female commented while looking down at the city. It was a good view and she was glad to see it somewhat at least.

"I could bring you back up, if you're a good girl anyway," Shego teased.

Kim laughed a bit and Shego finally took a good look at the maiko. Okay, so the olive-eyed shamisen player was cute; like a kitten or something, she mentally added when she realized what she was thinking. She thought that she needed that addition because she was not usually someone that found things adorable.

"So, why'd you bring me up here?" Kim asked curiously.

"Why, do you want to go back to your gilded cage?" Shego countered. She thought that she was doing the redhead a favor by taking her out, so she was slightly offended that the young woman would question her about it.

"No," Kim said honestly. She was actually glad to be out. It had been well over a month since she had seen the outside world. It felt great, as if she was let out of a cellar that she had been locked in for just as long as she had been at the teahouse. "Thank you, yojimbo-san," she added in a very polite and grateful tone along with a small, appreciative smile. She even bowed a little show respect for the great deed that she felt was done for her.

Shego smiled a bit too, but she was wearing her mask, so Kim could not see. Shego felt pretty good about herself and she knew why. She was appreciated for having given someone that she liked freedom. She felt like she had done something to be proud of, as if she had saved someone from drowning.

"Maybe you should just run away while you have the chance," the moss-hued bodyguard suggested.

"No, I think I'll just enjoy the moment for now, but thank you so much, yojimbo-san," Kim replied. She truly meant that, even if she did not know it.

"Don't mention it," Shego said and she shrugged, trying to downplay the moment, even though she still had that proud feeling floating through her system. Oh, it was a wonderful sensation, almost like a drug. She sat down against the tree while Kim continued to look over the view.

"So, when your friends manage to take over, who gets Edo?" the olive-eyed teen asked curiously, as if she was joking.

"Who knows? Who cares?" Shego replied while relaxing against the tree that she was propped up against.

"Well, what do you get?" the redhead asked since the bodyguard seemed to be willing to talk about the plot once again.

"I don't know. I'll take my pick when they pull it off."

"If they pull it off," Kim said. It was not a correction, just an observation based on the people that she knew that were involved in the plan.

"Exactly," the pale woman stated. She supposed that she could talk about the scheme with the maiko because the redhead seemed as skeptical as she did on the plot. The teen took it as an amusing joke while she looked at it as an insignificant matter because the crew that she was with seemed oafish in their manners and ploys.

"I don't get why you would be with this idea when you don't seem to have much faith in them to do it and you don't seem really interested in it," the redhead commented as she sat down next to Shego.

The pale woman shrugged slightly. "It's something fun to do."

"There are other fun things to do," the musician pointed out.

"It's what I want to do at the moment. You shouldn't think about it," Shego said in a dismissive manner. She did not think that the maiko should trouble herself with trying to figure out why she did anything. After all, she thought that entertainer should focus on her own bothersome existence that made little sense to Shego. Why remain in a confined place if she could escape?

"Well, what if you get caught?" Kim asked.

"If things come to that, then we'll see, but I don't plan on getting caught," the green-skinned bodyguard remarked. She never did consider what might happen if she got caught. It was almost like asking her if she would fly to the moon.

"What if you do, though?" the redheaded teen pressed. There was something growing inside of her like slowly spilling water that was not pleased with the notion of "yojimbo-san" being arrested and executed over something that "he" did not even seem to care about.

"It's not something you should trouble yourself over, Akako-chan," Shego replied, trying to discharge the inconsequential issue as if her tone was a weapon against trivial things.

"But—" Kim tried to continue on, but the pale bodyguard interjected.

"You really shouldn't worry about it. This is the choice that I made in life, which makes it good for me either way. You shouldn't regret your decisions just because they ended with a poor outcome for you, especially if you were enjoying it before it went sideways," the ebony-haired female stated.

Kim nodded because she could understand that philosophy to living. She consciously realized that she respected the bodyguard for accepting the consequences of "his" actions, even if things did not work out the way that "he" thought they were. Life should be lived without regrets if only to be burden-free.

"We should have brought your shamisen," Shego commented. Music would definitely banish the annoying topic to the winds.

"You really like that thing, huh?" Kim asked.

"Well, I think I both like it because you play it well, but then I also like it because you hate playing it," the pale woman confessed. She saw no twists or troubles in admitting such a thing, especially after the other things she had been discussing rather freely. Something about the girl seemed to loosen her tongue for a reason she did not think to consider.

"You just like tormenting me," Kim complained in playful tone.

Shego laughed. "It is fun."

"You're evil. I might start calling you 'akuma-san (1).' It would fit you best," the redhead replied.

"You call me that and I'll just make you play the shamisen every time I see you."

"It would only prove you're a demon."

"You have no idea," Shego replied. She was smirking behind her mask. Subconsciously she was pleased that she had gone and picked up the maiko. It was making the night bearable and she had forgotten that she had even been attempting to read a book earlier.

Kim sat there and conversed with Shego until the sun began to peek out over the horizon, unaware and uncaring that it dared disturb their time and impede on their night. The redhead had sort of forgotten that she was supposed to be gathering intelligence, but it was something that had been happening more often when she got around the bodyguard. Something about their talks always made her forget that she had a job that she was supposed to be doing, even though every now and then they did talk about the bodyguard's "friends."

When the sun started to make its presence known not like a rowdy bar patron, Shego sneaked Kim back into her "gilded cage." She did suggest once more that the redhead run while she had the chance, but Kim declined on that offer again. Shego figured that she had done all she could and so, she returned to her home after she dropped Kim off.

* * *

"So, did you learn anything?" Yori asked Kim as the redhead slid their room door shut. She did not even give her partner a chance to be totally in the room before making such inquiries.

"Huh?" Kim inquired in a puzzled tone as she turned to face the ebony-haired female.

"Did you learn anything while you were out all night?" the ninja clarified her question.

"Nothing much. Yojimbo-san doesn't seem to have much faith in the conspirators. I mean, I think they're really going to go through with it and everything, but he doesn't seem to think they'll succeed, even though he's going with it," Kim answered as she set herself up against the wall.

"He seems to really like you, huh?" Yori pointed out what she felt was the eight hundred pound bear in the room.

"Yeah, but he still won't talk to me about this thing in real detail. He seems to think it's a big joke. He's pretty closed off about most things, though," the redhead commented.

"That's the smart thing to be. Did he think anything of how we almost killed him?"

"If he did, he didn't bring it up. Maybe he didn't think it was strange."

"You like wishing out loud, huh?" Yori remarked and that got a chuckle out of Kim. Of course it had to come across as weird for two petite maiko to charge and almost kill a bodyguard. But, like Kim said, he had not brought it up.

"Don't try to taunt me just because I got to get out of here for a little while and you didn't," Kim retorted.

"Oh, that was just wrong," the ninja groaned. She would have liked to have gotten out of the place for a little while too. She bet that it was nice to just be able to stretch her legs without having to be in a formal kimono or wearing those clogs, like a bird out of its cage. Kim got to have all the fun, she silently lamented. "I think I'm jealous," she confessed as if it was nothing.

"I know you are, that's why I said it," the redheaded samurai commented. She knew that Yori would be just a little bothered by the fact that she got to go outside. She knew it because she had been so happy to be outside. She had not realized that she missed the world as much as she did, but she was grateful that she had gotten out there, even if it was only for half the night.

Yori probably would not have known what to do with her time out anyway. She would have been like a lost kite, moving in the direction that wind and gravity took her without any destination because she knew that if she picked a target, she would have flown right to Ron. How she missed her wonderful, delightful, beautiful, slightly oafish husband. So, it was proper that she had not been the one that was freed.

* * *

Shego had thought that it was strange that Kim and Yori had been sleeping up against a wall, extra-lightly sleeping at that, and had gotten the drop on her. They were just two musicians and she was a bodyguard, among other things. She should have seen them coming a mile away, but they had caught her. How was that possible?

Well, obviously, they were not normal musicians, her brain pointed out. She did not think too much of it because she considered that they might just be rather paranoid maiko. She would just ask about the actions later on. Maybe, before Akako and her friend were geisha, they did something else with their lives. She shockingly enough did not suspect them of anything. Deep inside in an abyss that she was unaware existed, she wanted to give Akako the benefit of the doubt and so she did.

But, the next time that Shego saw the redhead, she did bring things up. Kim had not been caught by surprise because she knew that her actions along with Yori's actions were going to be questioned. They had done something pretty odd for delicate little geisha girls, they knew that.

"So, how long have you been in the habit of sleeping against the wall?" Shego inquired while making herself comfortable. Drakken and the Seniors were in a room down the hall. She had not even gone down with them. She just requested another room and summoned "Akako." Junior had something disgusting to say about that, but she ignored him while muttering the word "idiot" under her breath.

"I don't know. Maybe for as long as I can remember," Kim answered. At home, she rested in her futon, but in new places, she always propped herself up against the wall and slept very lightly. She usually had her katana in hand too, but she was keeping her swords hidden. She did not want to chance Vivian seeing her weapons and then trying to take them away because they would then get into a fight and she did not want to know where that would go.

"Why?" the pale woman asked while motioning for her companion to pour her some sake.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just overly cautious."

"You and your friend, huh?"

"Obviously," Kim answered.

The emerald-eyed bodyguard allowed the answers to swirl around the calm storm that was her mind. She had figured that the two maiko were paranoid and she did want to accept that, so she did. There was some invisible line that connected her to the redhead and part of her knew that the line would be severed sharply if she overanalyzed what happened. That part of her refused to let the line be snapped and so, it forced her to accept the explanation.

"So, was she jealous that you managed to get out of here, even if it was for the night?" Shego inquired curiously.

Kim laughed a bit. "She was."

"She didn't rat you out or anything, right?"

"No, she just wanted to know what the outside was like. We used to be out there a lot and it's hard to just be in here now," the olive-eyed girl replied.

"Is it? Then let's get out of here," Shego suggested as if it was nothing.

"Huh?"

"Let's get out of here. Don't worry, I'll bring you back. You grab your shamisen and I'll grab the booze," Shego remarked.

"Won't we get in trouble if they find out you've taken me?"

"You shouldn't worry about that, but if you want to stay here just because of the risk, I won't make you leave."

"No, let's go."

Shego smirked; she liked the slender risk-taking maiko and she could admit that to herself at the very least. She did grab her drink while Kim grabbed her hated shamisen. And then they were gone.

They went back to the spot that Shego had taken her to last night. They sat down by the tree and looked down into the city, admiring what they could see from the sprinkle of lantern lights that illuminated the city like randomly shattered fireflies in the woods. The moon was out again, but once again hiding behind a cloud as if it was a naughty child that was in trouble. The stars were out in strong numbers as usual, like an army of white sparkles. They were silent for a while and Kim just started playing her shamisen, which made Shego smile; it was hard to see because of her head being down and her hat covering her face.

"So, Akako-chan, what did you used to do before you were taken to the geisha house?" Shego inquired.

Kim thought about what she would say. She did not have a cover story and she was not very skilled in the art of lying. She guessed that she was going to have to settle with telling the truth, but just leaving bits out to avoid giving herself away.

"I used to want to be a samurai," Kim replied.

"Why? What's so great about being a samurai?" the pale woman asked, even though she was a warrior herself. She just wanted to know the appeal of it for the petite redhead.

"Everything, except for, you know, the killing," the teen admitted.

"Kill or be killed. You shouldn't walk onto a battlefield if you're not prepared to die," Shego commented. That was the first rule to fighting.

"I know that. So, yojimbo-san, what did you want to be before you became a bodyguard?" the redhead asked curiously.

"I always just wanted to be free, on my own. That way I can be left alone if I feel like being alone or I can just do whatever I want. All I ever wanted was control over my life since it is my life."

Kim nodded, showing that she understood, which was typical when it came to them discussing points of life. "I can see your point," the teen stated.

"That's why you should run away."

"I guess we're not all as brave as you," Kim remarked, more teasing than serious. She did think that the bodyguard was brave, though. It took a lot to go after "his" own freedom and take control of "his" own life.

"You should be. You're a daring little thing."

Kim smiled and blushed, but since she had on her maiko makeup, it was hard to see. Shego did glance at the maiko and noticed the small smile. Shego smiled too, but she made sure that her head was down and it was near impossible to tell that she was wearing the expression.

Kim continued to play the shamisen while they sat there silently. The redhead did inch closer to the bodyguard. Shego noticed, but she did not mind. In fact, the pale woman moved closer to Kim too. They ended up touching, leaning against each other, feeling the other's firm presence.

"You know, I like coming up here to be alone," the moss-hued guard said out of the blue.

"Yet you brought me up here," Kim commented.

"Well, having you here is almost like being alone considering the fact that you don't have anything smart to say," Shego teased.

"Akuma-san," the redhead said.

Shego only smirked while Kim realized that the private bodyguard had shared something very deep and private with her. They were in Shego's personal space. Kim had never been let in someone's world like that. It was flattering, almost humbling because she was not even sure what to say or how to feel. It did make something slowly swirl inside of her.

Kim was drawn out of her musing as Shego began commenting on the stars and how calm they always appeared, never moving from their spots in the blanket they were wrapped in. Kim turned her attention to the sky and listened to the bodyguard going on, considering that the stars were almost enviable because they seemed so at peace. The moon decided to peer out from behind the cloud and join the other heavenly bodies, making for a breathtaking sight. Kim decided to jump in the conversation at that moment and Shego did not mind.

The green-skinned bodyguard smiled unconsciously. She had never had the chance to be around someone that would appreciate the sky with her and from her special place too. It should have seemed odd if anything at all, but it was just soothing, like being gently caressed with words and an aura.

* * *

Vivian was in a panic. Bonnie and her girls were done with their party and the party was looking to leave, so they wanted their bodyguard too. The problem in that was that the bodyguard was gone. Along with the bodyguard, Akako was gone. Betty was going to kill her! Vivian could not believe that she had lost a whole girl. It was a first.

The blonde woman searched the entire building for the redheaded samurai, but was unable to find her. She could not believe the trouble that she was going to be in, especially since it was likely that the samurai had been stolen by that silent bodyguard. If something happened to that girl, it was all over, Vivian thought. Betty would never speak to her again and that would be if she was lucky. All in and all, Betty would likely murder her in some unspeakable manner and possibly mutilate her helpless corpse. It was a motivating thought.

"Ayame," Vivian said while going up to Yori's room.

The ninja was doing some exercises, but stopped as soon as the blonde entered the room. Yori thought that she might be in trouble. She was not sure why. She was pretty certain that she had not done anything that warranted a scolding, but sometimes the smallest things seemed to bring about reprimands. But, all she had done was sat back and played her flute like always during the banquet, so she could not figure out what tiny action she might have taken to be awarded a visit by the blue-eyed woman.

"Do you know where Akako is?" Vivian begged to know from the young spy.

"What do you mean? She was in a room with yojimbo-san," Yori replied.

"No, she's not there anymore. I checked. She wasn't there," the older woman said in a frantic tone.

"Oh," Yori said, obviously unaffected by the news. "Don't worry about it. He'll bring her back."

"What do you mean? How do you know?" Vivian practically demanded. She noted the teen's indifferent demeanor and knew that the girl knew something that she was not sharing.

"I just do. He'll bring her back. She seems to think he's an all right person, so he'll bring her back," Yori tried to assure the panicked woman.

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure," Yori replied. Kim seemed to get a good vibe from the bodyguard and even if she did not know it, she seemed to trust him, so he would more than likely bring her back. Unless he totally flipped and decided to kidnap the redhead, she thought, which would be bad for him, unless Kim wanted to go with him. No one took Kim some place by force, after all.

Vivian was only slightly relieved. She would not feel at ease until that redheaded samurai was back where she was supposed to be and assured that nothing horrible happened to her. She could see why Betty was always so stressed if she had to deal with Kim and Yori on a daily basis. It was a miracle that Betty had not yanked out her good eye if she had to put up with the girls often, in Vivian's opinion.

When Kim did return, it was fairly late. Vivian wanted to strangle the girl when she saw her, but she did not take such drastic actions. She did crack Kim in the head with her fan, though. Kim saw it coming, but she did not dodge. She yelped as the force of the hit sent her crashing to the floor. The blonde woman was much stronger than she looked, Kim quietly noted as she hit the wood.

"Where the hell have you been?" Vivian demanded to know.

"Ow," Kim muttered.

"No, no, no, don't try to act like that hurt. As hard as your head has to be, I could probably hit you with a tree and it not have any affect on you. Now, where have you been?" Vivian repeated.

"I was with yojimbo-san," Kim answered as she sat up.

"Did he do anything to you?"

"No, we just talked, like always. He's not that kind of person," the redhead replied.

"You can't just go around trusting people just because they haven't done anything to you yet," Vivian argued.

"I know," Kim pointed out. Did the blonde woman think that she was some stupid kid? She was a seasoned warrior and she knew what she was doing. She could read people to a certain extend and the bodyguard did not seem threatening, directly to her anyway.

"Are you falling for this bodyguard?" Vivian demanded to know.

"No!" Kim vehemently denied that charge.

"Good to know. Now, don't just go leaving here with him anymore. It's dangerous," the older female pointed out.

Kim agreed to appease the furious woman and hopefully avoid having fire breathed on her from the way the blonde was huffing. Vivian whacked her with the fan again, just for good measure and then left with the thought of finding someway to relax after such a stressful night. Kim rubbed her head and then turned her attention to Yori, who was looking at the redhead curiously.

"I'm not falling for the bodyguard," Kim insisted.

"I didn't say anything," Yori replied in her own defense.

"You're thinking it."

"Okay, maybe I am thinking it a little. So, did you get anything?" the ninja asked as she went back to her exercising.

"Well, I think they're going to be making their move soon. Yojimbo-san said that it might be a while before I saw him again when he brought me back. I asked why and he just said that he was going to do something boring followed by something fun and stupid."

"Sounds about right. Drakken-san and Senior-sama talked about moving some things to his manor. I'm guessing because it's closer to the palace."

Kim sat there and thought about it. "We should get someone to watch the house and wait for them to move things in, make sure they're weapons and everything. If they are moving weapons, it would confirm that they are looking to arm Senior-sama's men and move on the palace. We are going to be out of here soon."

"Yes!" Yori cheered. She was going to get back to her husband soon and never have to touch a wooden clog again.

* * *

1: Akuma: devilish person; devil; Satan.

* * *

Next time: Plans go into motion, many plans.


	7. To dream a dream

I don't own these characters.

7: To dream a dream

Kim and Yori filled Betty in on what they believed Drakken and the Seniors were up to. They suggested that she put some spies around the Seniors' manor to watch the activity around the place. Betty agreed with that. It would be best to capture the plotters right before they were about to start out because it would give her a chance to take whatever weapons they had gathered. She just knew that she had to be careful with it because if she went in too late, her forces would be in grave danger and she could not afford losing more agents.

"Are we going to be involved with the raid?" Yori asked with hope in her eyes. Things like that were more her speed and she would like to be a part of something that she was familiar with after such a tiresome assignment.

"No," Betty answered.

The girls' expressions simultaneously dropped like the temperature in the winter. They were not going to be allowed into the sweetest part of the mission? But, they wanted to fight. They were warriors for crying out loud. In fact, one of the things keeping them going while they were on the undercover assignment was that soon they would get to do something that they were accustomed to and yet they were to be denied. Injustice.

"You two will stay here until the Seniors and Drakken are arrested," Betty informed them.

Now, they looked absolutely aghast. She might as well have told them that they were going to shot in the face at sunrise. They were going to be stuck in the house until the very end of the mission? That was not fair! Did she have any idea what kind of Hell it was for them to be there? To have to pretend to be something that they were not? And for Yori, to try to walk in those okobo? How cruel! Perhaps Betty was a devil, they considered.

"Why?" Kim managed to ask once she found her voice, which seemed to have abandoned her for a few seconds because of that news.

"Just in case. You can never be too careful. Once everything is in order, I'll come get you two," Betty assured them.

Yori and Kim were ready to beg to just get out of the house. It had been too long and they wanted to go outside. They wanted to walk down a street. Kim would not even care if everyone that she passed called her a fox spirit as loud as possible if she could just stroll the area with her swords at her side and a pair of zori on her feet. Yori would take any stares from anyone if she could just be with her husband again and in no footwear at all. They did not even want to get started on being able to get out of the heavy, formal kimonos that they had to wear all of the time.

They glanced at each other and were willing to bet that they were having the same bad idea. They were considering attacking Betty and then making a run for it. It was a bad idea for a couple of reasons, though. They were more than aware that it would be committing a horrible suicide to attack a madwoman like Betty and even if they had the incredible luck and fortune to escape, she knew where they lived. So, they both shook their heads to inform the other that it was a stupid notion that they could not go through with.

"Chin up, ladies. If they're moving soon like you say, you'll be home in a little while, doing whatever it is you do," Betty commented. It scared her to consider what they probably did do when they were home because they were such strange teens.

"Easy for you to say," they grumbled like angry children.

"What? Vivian's taking good care of you, right?" the one-eyed woman asked. She was sure that the blonde was taking the best of care of the girls, even if she was probably being hard on them.

"She likes hitting us with her fan," they reported in a mumble. It was rather shameful in their opinions. They were fierce and noble warriors getting smacked around by a geisha mother with a fan.

Betty laughed a bit. "She's a perfectionist when it comes to what she does and she's good at what she does. You two seem to be sitting straighter than usual," she commented, obviously teasing them.

Kim and Yori decided that they were offended by that, even though they were actually sitting straighter than ever before. She was making light of their suffering, after all. They were really hurting. They were stuck some place pretending to be people that they were not, almost the opposites of what they were and they had been doing it for over two months. Pulling their eyes out would have been more humane, they considered.

"Hang in there, you two. You're doing an excellent job," Betty assured them, as if those words were going to make the ache go away.

"Thanks," they muttered.

Betty decided to not address their rudeness toward her. She knew that things were hard for them since they were totally out of their element; hell, a fish on land probably would have been more comfortable than they were, but they were doing a good job. They had identified the two main men in the plot, namely Drakken and the elder Senior. They had also mentioned Junior and "yojimbo-san," but they had not said much on them because they were not major players in what was going on.

The duo of teens had come to understand what the plot was for the most part, even though the men never came right out and said the plan. They had even come upon information to let Betty know that she could be able to catch the two men in the act before they had a chance to mobilize and cause any grief. It was a good job, especially since that was their first time doing something like what they were doing.

"Hang in there," Betty repeated and then she went to go set up for the new operation.

"I'm never volunteering for something without hearing what it is again," Kim stated with a sigh as she lowered her head in exhaustion. The girls were in their room in their current "prison" and it was rather late at night since that was the safest time for Betty get word from them.

"I feel like this should repay any and every debt that I have to anyone that's ever lived," Yori remarked, shaking her head in defeat slightly.

"Just makes you wish you could find out if the Shogun is grateful, huh?" Kim asked as she crawled over to her bed. She sat on the futon while Yori remained situated on the floor.

"I wouldn't go that far. I'd just like to know that Director-sama is grateful. Well, that and maybe the fact that she'll never ask me to do something like this ever again. I mean, I don't belong to her anymore," Yori replied.

"Obviously, she forgets that a lot."

Yori nodded in agreement. She actually did used to belong to Betty. She had been sold to the one-eyed woman after her being taken in a battle from her former clan of ninja when she was twelve. Betty was always in need of personnel and when she found out that Yori was a ninja that was it for her. Yori was probably the wisest purchase that she had ever made. She was not cruel to the girl in any way. In fact, she allowed Yori to live with her and let the girl order around her servants, if that was Yori's wish anyway.

It was through Betty that Yori met her husband and good friend, Kim. They had all gone on a mission together and Yori had assumed that there was something between Kim and Ron as the mission proceeded. It was just that the pair were so in sync with each other and she was fairly impressed with them, even though she realized that they were weird almost a minute after meeting them.

Yori quietly fell for Ron; well, it was quietly to them anyway since they were the last two to notice it. Betty had no problem with letting Yori go and marry Ron. She never did look at Yori as a servant, even though the girl served her loyally and faithfully. Yori felt it was her duty to serve Betty as best she could because of the kind way the woman treated her. And that sense was only heightened when Betty allowed her to leave without any strings attached to be with Ron. That was why Yori had taken the job that she was currently stuck with. It was the reason that she took any job from Betty.

"Maybe she'll give us a break after this," Kim said.

"Again you wish out loud, Kim-chan," Yori remarked.

The redhead laughed. "Something has to keep me going. If not the optimism, then what?" she countered.

"I wish I knew," Yori replied.

"Well, at least this is almost over."

"I can't wait to get back to Ron-kun. Are you going to go see Du-sama when we leave?" the ninja asked curiously.

Kim almost laughed out loud; the question was just as good as any joke that she ever heard. As if she would leave one stressful situation to go put herself in another one? Will was far from her mind almost all of the time. She never wondered about what he was doing or where he was. She knew more about him than she wanted to as it was, so there was no way that she wondered about anything.

"You still dislike Du-sama, huh?" the ebony-haired female guessed.

"There's nothing to like about him and his big head," she replied.

It was no secret to anyone that knew Kim and Will that they did not get along. Most people tried to say that the pair had a grudging respect for each other and really did care about each other. Kim and Will wondered what the hell those people used when thinking because it obviously was not their minds.

"What are you two going to do when you get married?" Yori asked curiously.

The ninja hated to think about Kim and Will on their wedding night. She was fairly sure that the sight would not be pretty. Kim might actually draw her katana on him if he tried to touch her. Of course, it would not be the first time that they pulled weapons on each other and probably would not be the last time. Yori was with Betty and others with the idea that that marriage was probably going to end with one of them killing the other.

"With luck, that day won't ever come," Kim replied. At least, deep in her heart, she hoped that she would never actually have to be married to Will.

Kim knew that their families were waiting for her and Will to get along just a little better, but that was never going to happen from what she could tell. He was never going to respect her or her abilities, so he was always going to be an annoying bighead to her. She did not want to marry him for any reason, even if it would unite two mighty clans. If the clans wanted to be together so badly, she had cousins that could be married off. It was not even like her branch of the Possible family was the main branch of the clan.

"Maybe you could meet someone, like I met Ron," Yori commented. Maybe "yojimbo-san" for Kim was like Ron was for her.

"Thanks for the luck and all, but my grandmother arranged this wedding plan, so there's no way it'll be broken. So, if I did meet that person, nothing could come of it," the redhead replied. Her grandmother had made a deal and the family was going to abide by it because they always did what her grandmother said. It was a bit of a miserable existence, but nothing compared to the existence that would follow if one did not obey. Surely, that was the worse fate possible, everyone in the family silently agreed on that.

"What about yojimbo-san?" the ebony-haired spy asked curiously.

"What about him?"

"You seem kind of attached to him," Yori stated.

"I'm not," Kim insisted. "Besides, when Director-sama puts everything in motion, yojimbo-san is going to be arrested and probably crucified," she added. So, as far as wheels of destiny was concerned, the bodyguard was actually a walking dead man and it would be foolish to be involved with someone who was more or less a corpse with a pulse that would soon fade.

Yori nodded to that. She guessed that it would be foolish for Kim to fall for the enemy, especially the enemy who was going to die soon more than likely. Still, Yori thought that there was something between her spy partner and the bodyguard. If not an attraction, then a friendship, which she thought was good for Kim.

Kim needed friends that seemed to understand her and Yori was willing to bet that the bodyguard did, which was why the samurai seemed comfortable with leaving with him and being alone with him. Kim did not have many friends that understood her, or even attempted to know what made her tick. Most of the people that she knew talked about her rather poorly once she left the room, even if her true friends were still there. Out of all of the good things that Kim did, people still did not accept her because of how strange she was and there was the fact that she might be a fox spirit or the offspring of a fox spirit. Yori did not understand it much herself, considering the fact that had Kim been a part of her ninja clan, she knew for a fact the redhead would have been celebrated for her constant and consistent heroics.

Kim thought about "yojimbo-san" as she lay there in her bed. He was going to be arrested and probably killed for scheming against the government. It made something inside of her sink and her stomach lurched, as if she was going to be ill. Even though the bodyguard seemed to accept that that might happen, it was starting to bother her and upset her inner workings.

She liked sitting and talking with the bodyguard and she considered that she might miss that if he was gone. At least if he lived, there was a chance of them meeting again after she left her job, but if he was dead, there was no chance of that in her current lifetime anyway. She wondered if there was someway to at least keep the bodyguard alive, but she could not think of any way for that to happen, which only made that sinking feeling go deeper.

It was almost a guarantee that anyone caught plotting against the Shogun would be executed. "Yojimbo-san" would be caught if he was seen with Drakken and the elder Senior, since they were considered the main conspirators and the ones that Betty was most focused on. That thought depressed Kim the more that she thought about it.

Okay, maybe she liked the bodyguard a little bit, she conceded mentally because of her thoughts. But, she was not attracted to him as Yori seemed to think. She just liked his company a little bit and she did not think that he deserved to die for some crazy scheme cooked up by people that he did not even like. He just wanted to be free and she could understand that. He just seemed to pick a bad way to be go about it.

Maybe, if given the chance, the bodyguard might change. But, there was no way to know that if he was killed. She wanted him to get a chance to change, but to remain free. What to do? What to do?

--(New day)

Shego finished up packing way the weapons that Drakken created. She could not believe how many boxes the weapons took up. She had been planning to just leave him to pack them all away, but she did not have anything better to do with her time. Well, at the time she did not have anything better to do, but she knew what she was going to do now that it was all over.

"Shego, you can guard the first shipment," Drakken ordered her.

"Uh, yeah, about that," Shego said as if she was hesitant to inform him that she had other plans. "No," she replied plainly.

"What?" the cerulean inventor inquired because he was not sure if he heard right.

"I said no. I helped you pack this crap away. You should be thankful for that crap. I'm going out for a drink now," Shego informed him.

"What do you mean? We have to get this stuff to Senior's house tonight while it's dark," he pointed out. She could not expect him to do it all himself, could she?

"That's your problem. I do a lot of things, but I don't think moving crates in is on that list."

"What? You're my servant—" he started, but he did not get to finish that sentence.

"What?" Shego snarled and she grabbed the loose-lipped inventor by his collar. She held up a hand, which had claw-like nails on it. "Did you just call me your servant?" she demanded to know.

"I didn't mean it," he quickly amended his statement.

"Let's get this straight, Drakken-kun," she said, taunting him with the term "kun." She frowned as she continued on. "I'm here because I want to be. I do things for you, like let you breathe, out of the kindness of my heart and because you can afford to pay me a decent wage. So don't think that just because I'm with you on this nutty scheme that you can order me around or that I do grunt work. Got it?"

"I got it," he answered in a trembling voice.

"Good, now I'm going to have a drink. When the fighting and everything starts, send word and I'll show up. You understand that one?" she demanded to know with a growl.

Drakken nodded and she tossed him aside. She grabbed her hat and mask and left the lair. The nerve of him, she silently huffed. How dare that bastard call _her_ his servant! If only he knew how many different ways she could kill him, he would probably learn to watch his mouth. She was only with him because she wanted to be there.

While Drakken annoyed her more often then not, she liked being around him and listening to his delusions of grandeur. He was amusing to her to watch him think that he was so great and that he would make sure a fantastic ruler and everything. He seemed like such a raving lunatic to her most of the time and it made her laugh on the inside because he thought so highly of himself. Secretly, she did not think that he would ever succeed, but with his current plan, she was not too sure.

When Drakken was on his own, she knew that he would never be able to make it anywhere. He did not have many men backing him, not enough to go against the Shogun anyway. But, with his men combined with Senior's men, there was a chance that they would be able to do something. Plus, there were his great weapons that might possibly give them an edge to unleash agony unto the Shogun.

So, maybe they would win, but she was not even thinking that far ahead and she was not going to hold her breath if they made it that far. She was just thinking of the fight that would happen when everything was going to crack wide open. Victory was moot to her because idiots would only be taking power from another idiot as far as she was concerned. Still, she was leaning more to the fact that they would have to retreat when all the smoke cleared more than likely.

It was nice to see Drakken get his hopes up, though. Sure, she did not like him very much, but then again, she did not dislike him either. She just got a kick out of watching him work, which was probably why she stuck around him. He was extremely amusing to her, better than anything that could happen in the theater. So, in a small way, he was more like her servant. He did not even know it, which was something else that she thought was funny.

Drakken was so self-important and high and mighty in his own mind that he did not know she looked at him more as a clown than a conqueror. She bet that he was so blinded by his own thoughts of greatness that he did not know what he was going to do with his half of the country if they managed to succeed beyond naming it after himself. She did not even see why he would want to rule the country outside of the fact that he wanted someone somewhere to recognize his genius.

As she made her way to where she wanted to be, she wondered what the country would be like if Drakken were the shogun. That was easy, she considered. There would more than likely be rapid rebellions days into his reign. He would more than likely quell them with violence, as others had done in the past. So, there would probably just be a bloodbath when he took over with the rivers running red and the fields being fed by cadavers. He would be left to rule over ruins and any cowards left alive that wished to hang onto their pathetic existences. Yeah, that seemed right about his speed.

It did not stop there in her mind, though. She figured that the people left alive and too frightened to do anything, they would live in misery. Drakken would only want to indulge himself like a spoiled child with new toys and he would weaken the state more than likely. Maybe, if push came to shove, she would join up with some people and overthrow Drakken. That would be if he managed to stop being amusing to her.

* * *

Kim strolled into a room where Shego was waiting for her. Kim was happy to see the bodyguard. It was a relief to see that "yojimbo-san" had not been arrested and was still alive. She nearly sighed at the sight; a light feeling did course through her being like a nourishing stream for a moment, though.

"Good evening, yojimbo-san," Kim greeted the bodyguard and bowed slightly.

"Hey, Akako-chan," Shego replied.

"Are we to take another nighttime escape?" the redhead asked with a coy smile. Every now and then, "yojimbo-san" indulged her and took her outside to stretch her house-stiffened limbs. She did enjoy the outings and inquired about them whenever the mysterious bodyguard showed up, which was almost every night now. It would seem the bodyguard had money to burn and poured it into seeing her.

"I don't think I have the time for that. I might have to do something tonight," Shego answered. She was not sure when Drakken and Senior were planning to make their moves, but they might do it once all of the weapons were stockpiled at Senior's home. So, there was a chance that she would probably have to leave earlier than she tended to.

Kim pouted slightly, which Shego noticed, but the teenager did not seem to know that she was wearing such a pathetic look. Shego found herself reacting strangely to the expression. She felt regret that she might have to leave earlier than usual.

"What do you think you might have to do?" Kim asked.

"Something stupid and fun. Don't worry about it. When it's all over and done, I'll come back and get you out of this gilded cage. We can sit up every night and watch the stars," Shego replied. It was somewhat of a promise and she was sincere about it, which the musician could tell just from the sound of the bodyguard's voice.

Kim felt something weird go through her body. Was it hope and remorse at the same time? She hoped that she could sit with the bodyguard and watch the stars again, but she also felt some remorse over what the bodyguard would go through if he was caught up in the plot to overthrow the government. She now knew that she just could not let that happen. She could not let him get caught or she would regret it for the rest of her life.

"Yojimbo-san, can I pour you a drink?" Kim asked.

"Um…sure," Shego answered.

Kim went to do as she offered. Shego was a little suspicious about the eagerness of the little maiko. She decided against commenting on it since the point of her coming out was for her get a drink and to see her "Akako-chan." It was a win/win situation if the girl was offering to do things instead of having something smart to say.

"What about food? Would you like something to eat too?" Kim asked.

"Sure," Shego agreed. She was a little hungry and if she did have to do anything tonight, it would be a good idea for her to have something in her stomach.

"Okay, I'll go get some."

Shego arched an eyebrow. Okay, it was official, Akako had been taken over by a demon, she figured. It was the only way to explain why the redhead was acting the way that she was. She was going to have to ask about the odd behavior the petite maiko was exhibiting. But, she did not really get around to it because when the food came, she started eating.

Kim watched the bodyguard eat while picking up her shamisen. She began playing a soft melody, but stopped every so often to make sure that there was drink in the bodyguard's cup or to get more food. She also made sure to offer up conversation by asking about things that she figured out interest the bodyguard, like the stars, or the shamisen, or weapons, and just about everything else that she could come up with. It was going pretty well. "Yojimbo-san" relaxed and eventually the bodyguard fell asleep. That was just what Kim wanted.

* * *

Betty gave the signal for her troops to move in. They had surrounded the Seniors' manor and they were watching men bring in a lot of crates. They were going to find out what was in those crates before arresting everyone in the place. After all, if it turned out to be something other than weapons, then they missed their chance to find out what the secret weapons were.

Betty pried open one of the crates as she slipped into a storage room. She picked up one of the pieces of cargo. It looked like a rifle as far as she could tell, but it had been modified greatly. She picked up another one to see the same thing. Apparently, not only were they serious about taking over the government, but they were prepared for it.

"Good thing we caught this before it got out of hand," the one-eyed woman muttered to herself.

Betty let her people know that it was time to take prisoners and they needed to do it quietly and quickly. She did not want to give anyone a chance to use the weapons. So, her people did try to take everyone on the manor quietly, but with so many people to capture, it was virtually impossible to take everyone fast enough to where others were not alerted.

Fighting broke out within minutes of the operation commencing as the guards and soldiers around the manor realized there was an attack. As orders went out for them to protect their lord, Betty went after the elder Senior. She trusted Will to go after the younger Senior, especially since Will knew what the young man looked like. There were already orders left by Betty for all of her agents to be on the lookout for a blue fellow.

The blue fellow was trying to make his getaway when he noticed all of the commotion going on. He crept to a secret door, thinking that he was about to make it out of the chaos. And then he opened the door.

"I don't think you want to go this way," government agent Barkin Steve commented. He was standing inside the secret passage, cracking his knuckles.

"Not the face!" Drakken pled when he saw that he was about to be hit.

Barkin shrugged and punched Drakken in the stomach. The inventor coughed in pain, muttered the name of his bodyguard, wondering where she was, and then he passed out, which was what Barkin expected. He tied Drakken up and decided to wait to see if anyone else would come his way for him to beat up. He could use the action and it turned out that he picked a good place to wait up.

Junior came running to the same secret passage while Will was being held up by guards. Barkin did not even know who Junior was, but he knew that he was expected to stop anyone not working under Betty. Junior was not an agent, therefore had to be stopped. He ran right into Barkin's fists while trying to get out of the house.

Junior did not fall from one hit like Drakken did. Amazingly enough, Junior's thick muscles were beyond show. He pulled out a knife to fight against Barkin, who was caught by surprise with the concealed weapon. Junior was about to go on the attack, but he suddenly dropped to the floor.

Behind Junior stood Will and when Junior hit the floor, there was a needle shuriken in his shoulder. Will had hit the large young man with the needle. Barkin looked down at the collapsed male.

"Did you…?" Barkin asked. He was curious about Junior's status and if that shuriken was laced with deadly poison.

"He's only unconscious. She wants him alive. What about the blue one?" Will inquired.

"Yeah, he's alive too," Barkin replied.

Will nodded. They had kept alive two main people that Betty had sent them after. She had done the same with the elder Senior, but his capture did not mean that his men stopped fighting. In the midst of all of the battling, some lanterns were knocked over and the house began to burn.

* * *

Shego woke up to find her head being cradled in Kim's lap, which was almost unsettling in comfort. Her hat was over her head, but she was not sure if that meant that the maiko had not looked at her face completely. She sat up and looked at the redhead, who was humming to herself while looking off to the side.

"Oh, you're awake," Kim commented as the bodyguard rose off of her.

"Yeah," Shego replied while fixing her hat and looking around for her mask. "Did you look, Akako-chan?" she inquired.

"Look?"

"You were so curious before, so did you take your chance to look at my face?" the bodyguard clarified.

"No," Kim answered honestly. "I hope that one day you'll trust me enough to show me someday."

"Someday. But, I have to leave tonight. I'll come see you again soon and take you outside again," Shego promised.

Kim only nodded, wishing that she could actually do more, such as hug him at the least. Tonight might actually be the last time that they saw each other, if everything went down as it was supposed to. With luck, she had saved the bodyguard from a horrible fate, though.

Shego quickly exited the teahouse and was about to return to the lair since Drakken had not sent word for her. When she hit the outside though, she noted all of the commotion. Apparently, there was a fire, so she went to go check that out. She was surprised when she got closer to the fire and she saw what was burning, the Seniors' home. She was could not believe her eyes.

"This isn't good," Shego muttered.

* * *

Next time: Shego to the rescue.


	8. Sparks fly

I don't own these characters.

8: Sparks fly

Shego watched from a rooftop in disbelief as the Seniors' mansion burned so brightly that it almost made the night seem like day. She could tell that it was a sting operation going on in the house too because she could see Senior's men being rushed out of the place, tied up or bound in some other way by other people dressed in dark colors. Some of the crates were even being pulled out of the place, for evidence perhaps, she figured. It would seem that things were pretty fucked up.

She decided to observe what was happening rather than charge in and doing something stupid. After all, she was only one person and there were plenty of enemies from what she could tell. There were a lot of people anyway, she noted, since she was not totally sure that they were enemies or not. And then she took notice of the Shogun's lapdog, also known as Director Betty. Most people did not know the one-eyed woman from any other person on the street, but a special breed would be able to know her from the distance that Shego was standing at.

Shego had seen Director Betty enough times to know who the woman was and what she did. She had expected to see the brown-haired woman thanks to the scheme cooking in the minds of Drakken and the elder Senior. She even considered that they might engage each other in combat to see how far they had come, but not tonight. Everything seemed to be screwed up that night.

To think, she would be in that mess if she had not fallen asleep thanks to all that food and wine. She was not sure what the outcome would have been if she was stuck in all that chaos, but she doubted that her presence would have stopped the fire, so the place would have burned easily no matter what. She would have either been caught or had escaped with nothing really to show for her effort, she figured. How anticlimactic, she thought.

They had a rather decent plan, after all. It might have been possible for them to pull off the coup or at least go out in a blaze of glory. Instead, the house was going up in a blaze and most of their men were being arrested or killed before they even got a chance to do anything. Damn, the Shogun had some good dogs working for him for them to have caught everything before anything even happened, she considered.

Or, of course, those idiots could have just drawn attention to themselves when they were moving the crates from the cave to the house. She could see the morons that she worked with somehow giving themselves away while on the street, even if they were making the move late at night. The grunts were not smart enough to be discreet, especially if they thought that it was a safe time or place or something of the like and they all swore that it was safe to move the boxes of weapons at night. So, either they screwed up or the Shogun's dogs had sniffed out the plan and dug up their work.

She supposed that it did not matter. Whatever the cause of what was happening was done and gone. Now, there was only what was occurring and what she was going to do to change fate. She scoped things out and decided that she was going to stick close to see if she had a chance to make things worse for the Shogun and make things better for her clowns…uh, Drakken and the Seniors. She was supposed to protect Drakken anyway.

* * *

Betty demanded that everyone alive get out of the burning mansion as the smoke built up like a wall, but the true walls were collapsing. Her agents were upset with the orders, knowing that they had to save the plotters against the government as well as their own skins; their boss would not have it any other way. A few dedicated agents did pull out the containers full of weapons. They figured that the weapons might be useful in some manner.

When people started coming to put out the fire, Betty ordered her people to move out as quickly and as quietly as possible; they did have the whole "secret police" thing to maintain. Everyone grabbed what they could, be it a prisoner or two or evidence of the planned uprising, but they all took something and made themselves scarce, leaving the manor to go up in flames unless other people acted on its behalf.

Shego followed the disappearing agents, even though most people had not even noticed them; they were like shadows in the dark. The masses were focusing on the fact that there was a house burning in the noble district of the city. There were efforts to put the fire out, of course. If they just allowed the fire to burn, it could spread and the whole city could possibly collapse to the destructive force. So, people were hurrying to defeat the flames. It all acted as a distraction for Betty and her troops to get out of there without being seen.

Betty and her agents retreated back to the Shogun's castle, which was where Shego knew they would go. She did not attempt to follow them into the castle; that would have been pure madness to try with them and the usual guards around the place. She needed to figure out what she was going to do about everything, who she was going to rescue, and how she was going to do it. So, she sat in a tree to ponder the matter close by and out of sight.

The prisoners were locked away in a low level dungeon immediately when Betty's team entered the castle. The entire Senior household that survived the fire along with any henchmen gathered together by the elder Senior and Drakken that were still alive were put away in the cellar prison. The crates were put away in a storage room and Betty went to go make a report.

Betty typically reported directly to the Shogun. He always wanted to hear things for himself from someone that was on the scene. He figured that if he got a first hand account it would be best to understand the situation and it was also a way to avoid true hearsay where the truth of the predicament was lost through channels. He also knew that the one-eyed woman would not try to bury the circumstances under ass-kissing jargon. She would explain things as bluntly as possible, but with all due respect.

When Betty did report directly to the Shogun, she sat outside a room and he remained behind a shut shoji. He sat far from the door, probably on the other side of the room, she guessed. She did not think too much on it because she was so used to it.

Betty was brief in what she said. She explained the plot as far as she understood it, which was that Drakken supplied the guns that he had bragged about creating back when he thought it was safe to talk in front of the geisha. Senior offered up the finances for Drakken to buy what he needed to create the guns. They combined their men to have a small army that they planned to use to storm the castle. The Shogun did not comment to that, not that she expected him to.

She then informed him about the weapons and how they appeared to greatly modified guns. He did not say anything to that either. Betty ended her report and left as quickly as she could, which was not extremely fast considering that she had to bow with almost every move that she made until she was out of the room that she was in. She then had to wait for her orders on what she should do next or wait around in case the Shogun finally decided to ask questions on everything that had happened.

* * *

"How could this happen?" Señor Senior Senior lamented in disbelief.

He thought that they had had a flawless plan in its ingenious workings. They had been very quiet about everything, even when smuggling in the pieces for the guns or sometimes whole guns themselves. Drakken had put the weapons together and modified them vastly in his own lair, which was outside of the city and, by their thinking, safe because of that. So, he really wondered, how could they have gotten arrested before even doing anything?

"Father, we're going to get out here, right?" Junior asked with a slight tremble in his voice. He was sharing a small cell with his father and several other people. It was such a massive round up that the cells were all full.

"Of course, my son," Senior assured his offspring. He was not too sure about that, though. He did not see how it was possible for them to get out once they were in the palace's walls. They were swallowed by the Shogun and in the bowels of the beast now, not even the belly.

"I can't believe they took all my guns," Drakken complained with a deep huff. He was in a different cell, but the Seniors could hear him griping.

Drakken had worked long and hard on all of those guns, pouring his very essence into his labor, especially the ones that he had to put together completely on his own. Then there were the weapons that he designed chiefly on his own. Those weapons were things of beauty in his mind, works of perfected art, and they had been confiscated by the government. The Shogun was probably going to have them destroyed, he realized, especially since the man did not know how they worked.

The cerulean inventor's expression dropped greatly as the thought of his hard work being melted down and wiped from the face of the Earth, as if they had never been created in the first place. Or worse, what if some hack started examining his precious pieces and began tearing those weapons apart? He actually wondered what they managed to save from the fire considering the fact that he had been knocked out for the battle and failed to witness any of the inferno, but he had heard about it from the other prisoners lamenting the lose of the brilliant manor.

Drakken was ignorant to what even started the fire. Junior was the same because they had both been unconscious in the fighting early on. Only a handful of people knew that one of the guards was knocked into a lantern by a government agent and the lantern started the wild fire that grew substantially as it was disregarded for other, more interactive opponents. Senior did wonder if the whole house had burned down by now. So many treasures were lost to him and his son if the whole house was gone.

But, Senior supposed he had bigger things to worry about than family bobbles. There was a big chance that he was going to die, as was his son. His son did not really have much to do with the plot and only came around because he enjoyed the particular teahouse that they frequented. He doubted that Junior's noninvolvement in things was known, but he would wait and see.

Senior did take into account that the Shogun was not a hard man like his father before him. The previous shogun was a man that felt anything that disturbed the calm of the land had to be dealt with in rash method to teach people that he would not tolerate any brand of foolishness and he almost always unleashed Hell on captured criminals. No one questioned the effectiveness of the manner as it was most improper to make inquires of the Shogun. The current Shogun fashioned himself as a just man and tried to make punishments fit the crimes, but he also understood that treasonous acts had to be dealt with. Treason could not be tolerated, after all.

It could not be said that Senior just accepted that he was going to die for his actions. He was not ready for death in any form and he was attempting to think of someway out of his current predicament. He also wanted to get his son out of the situation. He had to take care of his son, of course. So, he felt that it was his duty to get Junior out of there.

Drakken was also trying to figure out how to get out of his cell. He really had no desire to die. He had not even considered that might be an option when he began his planning. He always thought that any plan that he had was going to succeed. So, he did not know what he was doing in the cell and he did not know how he was going to get out of it. He silently hoped and wished and prayed that Shego would somehow manage to be his savior. It was what he paid her for, so she had better save him, he quietly huffed.

* * *

Betty decided to go rescue her good, little spies since there was nothing else for her to do at the moment. They seemed to think that they were in the lowest levels of Hell while undercover and she might as well get them out of there while she had the time. There was no reason for them to be there anymore anyway.

The one-eyed woman did take her time, however, since she could. When she made it to the house, she did not even go directly to the girls' room. She decided to see Vivian and inform the blonde that she was taking back her whiny spies. She knew that Vivian would freak out if she woke up and the girls were just gone and she did not know what happened to them.

"Vivian-san," Betty whispered as she sat down next to the blonde's bed.

Vivian murmured in her sleep, but she did not stir. Betty sighed and shook Vivian slightly, which worked. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled when she caught sight of who was waking her.

"Betty-san, visiting in the middle of the night? How daring," Vivian commented as she sat up to face the one-eyed woman. She continued to smile, looking somewhere between coy and seductive, which was probably only a feat that she could pull off.

"Stop looking like that. I'm just here to take back the two troublemakers," Betty informed the other woman.

"Is that all?" Vivian pouted, looking genuinely disappointed because of that reasoning.

"Of course."

"You should stay for a moment. You work too much. Every time I see you, you're working. Why don't you sit and have some tea with me?" the blonde offered with a pleasant smile.

"I don't have the time for that," Betty sighed. While she had spare time, it was not so vast for her to do something so leisurely as to sit and have tea with the blonde.

"You always say that. What do you ever do aside for be a dog for the Shogun?" Vivian inquired with a huff.

"Don't be that way and don't call me a dog for the Shogun," the brunette woman replied in an offended tone.

"Or else what? You'll use that?" Vivian asked and she flicked Betty's short sword, which was the only sword that Betty was carrying at the moment.

"Vivian-san, can we not have this argument again?" the one-eyed woman practically begged while sighing.

"And when would we have this argument? The next time you come by and want a favor from me yet have no time for me in the end?"

Betty growled like an upset hound. Of all the people that there were in the empire and she just had to know all of the difficult or weird ones, she silently huffed. Why did everyone have to bother her over the fact that she had a job to do? Maybe they wanted someone to overthrow the government and destroy the peace that the land enjoyed.

"Look, Vivian-san, I have a job to do, an important job," Betty started out, but the blonde did not let her finish.

"I know it's an important job, but you're going to burn yourself out. You're all about the work. You don't have anything outside of your job. I mean, the only family you see is your nephew and that's only because he works with you. You don't have any friends and you don't go out to the theater if you have a chance because you never have a chance. You need to relax," Vivian gently argued.

The blonde reached up and put her hands on Betty's face. She looked the brunette directly in the eye. Betty tried to look away, but the hands did not leave her cheeks, so she eventually turned back.

"You do need to relax. That's why I always ask you to stay. I'm not looking to downplay your job or anything like that. I understand it's a very important job and you help keep the peace and everything, but how long do you think you'll be able to do that if you're always so tightly wound?" Vivian asked.

"I don't have time to relax," Betty insisted.

"You have to make time. Now, since you're taking back the girls, I'm guessing you have time to spare because you've probably caught the bad guys. You should come back here tomorrow and have tea with me."

"Vivian—" The officer attempted to object, but she was not given the chance.

"Don't tell me no or I'll never do you another favor," the blue-eyed beauty promised and she sounded quite seriously.

Betty sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll come by tomorrow and we'll have tea," she agreed.

"No, no, no. Say it like you mean it, so I can trust you," Vivian said.

"I do mean it. I'll come by, as long as I don't have anything else to do, which I shouldn't. So, I will have tea and whatever else you want," Betty vowed.

Vivian seemed to brighten. She smiled and everything. She finally removed her hands from Betty's face and then Betty turned her attention to the door. Vivian knew Betty was leaving before the brunette even stood up. Betty bid Vivian farewell by telling her to go back to sleep. The blonde pouted, but she did lie back down to go back to sleep because it was the best thing for her.

Betty made her way to Kim and Yori's room. She had learned from her first time coming to collect information for them that they slept there like they did anywhere else, namely on high alert. She had learned it the hard way, though. She had entered the room in the middle of the night only to be tackled by Kim while Yori pressed an undoubtedly poisoned shuriken to her throat. She had not made that mistake a second time.

Betty made some noise before she slipped into the room. It was a specific sound and warned the two spies that it was her coming into the room. The first couple of times they dived into bed to pretend that they were sleeping like "normal" people. They did it because they thought that they might get admonished for not being "normal." After a while though, they did not even bother with pretending to be normal since Betty had already busted them the first time and she was no fool anyway. They were very aware that they were not tricking her by lying in the beds.

Kim and Yori were sitting up in the room; it would seem that they had been waiting for Betty to show up. Betty almost laughed when she saw them, but she caught herself. They were ready to go as far as she could tell. They were anxious and eager to depart like any prisoners being granted freedom.

"Did you bring pants?" the girls asked simultaneously and that broke Betty. She chuckled.

"No, I didn't. I guess you're just going to have to go home like that," Betty answered.

"I told you," Kim said to Yori.

"That you did," the ebony-haired female concurred.

"Will you two knock it off before I leave you here? You know, Vivian might not act like it, but she likes you two and she could use two good musicians," Betty threatened the pair and they believed her. In all actuality, there was no way that she could just leave them there without it ruining way too many lives and ultimately leading to her, at the least, to have to commit suicide, if the girls did not kill her first anyway.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go," Yori urged Kim. She had a husband that she wanted to get back to and if she never saw another okobo, it would be too soon.

"All right, let me just get my swords," the redhead replied.

Betty nodded and she did wonder where Kim had hidden the weapons. Yori knew the space, so it did not strike her curiosity. The brown-haired warrior watched as Kim lifted up her futon and reached into a small hole that she had put in the thing. Kim yanked out her swords from her bed.

"That explains why you weren't sleeping on the thing," Betty muttered.

"Well, I'm ready," Kim stated. She had to put the swords were they were close to her. She just would have not have been comfortable otherwise.

"It is time to get you two home," Betty agreed.

Yori and Kim nodded; they were ready to go home and forget the whole shameful undercover operation had happened. They exited the room and the house silently. They hit the streets and strolled off toward the Stoppable manor since it was closer. They dropped Yori off.

The shinobi (1) entered the house quietly and sneaked right into her shared bedroom with Ron. He was knocked out as far as sleep was concerned. He was an odd sleeper. He always looked totally out, but if someone got close enough, he woke up in an instant. And she happily got close enough.

Ron shot up and dashed toward the intruder. He clashed weapons with the perceived trespasser. As soon as he noticed whom it was that he drew his knife on, she was pressing her lips to his.

"Yori!" He grinned against her mouth and then wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm so glad to be back," she informed him while dropping her weapon. She had only drawn the blade because she was well aware of how her husband woke up. It would not do them any good if he killed her in a half-sleep stage of alert.

"I'm glad you're back too. Why were you gone for so long?" he inquired while making sure to keep her in his arms. He was not looking to let her go anytime soon, especially considering how good it felt to have her pressed against him.

"You know, what I always do," she answered cryptically. She doubted that she would ever be able to tell him what she had to do, even though no one touched her inappropriately. It was just that it could have happened and she had been in such a disagreeable situation in the first place.

"As long as you're here to stay now," he commented.

Yori nodded because as far as she knew that she was there to stay for a while. It was not likely that she was going to be given another mission anytime soon because Betty was a little more considerate than that. She should be able to stay with him and just enjoy him. The thought made her smile.

Ron decided against asking about the mission since she would not tell him why she was gone for so long. It had been well over two months and he was just so happy that she was back. He leaned down and kissed her again to show the joy that he was experiencing thanks to her return. She eagerly accepted the show of affection. It felt so indescribably good to be together again.

* * *

"So, what did you tell my parents for them to be all right with me being gone for so long?" Kim asked Betty curiously as they made their way to her home.

"I told them that you had to track a criminal for me and you probably ran into some of your usual things since he seemed to be heading south and he had a head start on you," Betty explained.

Kim shrugged; it was plausible. A few times in life, she had disappeared for a couple or more months while hunting down fugitives for Betty. She just did not like to lie about it, but she would rather lie than to tell her parents where she actually was for the past couple of months. So, it would seem that she was going to be lying.

"How worried did they seem while I was gone?" Kim asked curiously. Her parents made it a habit of harassing Betty when Kim was gone because even though they did not know exactly who Betty was when it came to her occupation as the leader of the secret police, they knew that she was a good reason if their daughter was missing for more than a couple of days.

"They both came by my house a few times a week. Luckily for me, I'm never home," Betty answered.

"Unlucky for you, they know where to find you," the teenager remarked.

"That they do," the one-eyed woman admitted with a sigh. The Possibles did know where to find her almost anywhere she might be, wanting to know any kind of news about their wandering daughter. She could understand that, but it was annoying.

"Well, sorry if they've been a handful, Director-sama."

"It's all right. I know how they are and you're their daughter, after all. So, you don't have to apologize," Betty replied.

Kim shrugged because she did not know what else to do. She bid Betty farewell and entered the house. She went right to her room. She would announce her return in the morning to avoid interrupting her family's rest.

* * *

Shego eased her way into the holding cell area. The prisoners heard a yelp, but they did not know what it was until they saw Shego. She motioned to them to be quiet by holding a finger to her lips.

"What are you doing here?" Drakken demanded to know. He was enthused to see her, even though that was not coming out in his tone. Part of him was even declaring how he knew that she would rescue him.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Be quiet. I'm here to get you out of here, of course," Shego replied.

"Oh!" Drakken said as if he was surprised by that.

"A break out? For all of us?" Senior asked from his cell.

Shego made a face. "I didn't say all that."

"If you free me, we can all go to my castle and regroup," Senior informed her.

"Yes, then we can get revenge!" Drakken proclaimed rather loudly.

"Will you be quiet?" Shego hissed.

"Father, who is this woman anyway?" Junior asked as he took a good look at Shego, who was not wearing her mask or hat. She liked her hat, but it was difficult to sneak into a fortified area wearing a large hat. She did dislike the mask and only wore it to be granted access at the teahouse.

"The woman saving your skin. Now everyone shut up, sit back, thank me when this is all over," Shego informed them.

The pale woman ignited her hands and carefully went through wooden bars. She had no desire to start a fire, especially since she could possibly kill several hundred people if she set the place ablaze. She pointed in the direction that everyone should flee to; it was a hidden passage for them to escape into.

"Are you some kind of demon?" Junior asked when he saw how Shego freed them.

"Yeah, the bitchy kind. Do you want to leave or see what it's like to lose your intestines?" Shego inquired.

Junior did not argue with that response and he exited the cell with the stream of other prisoners. Shego directed everyone where to go, which did surprise a few people that were perceptive. They wondered why she knew about a secret passage in the Shogun's palace.

"I've escaped this place a few times in my life," Shego informed them when the elder Senior finally got around to asking about the clean getaway that they seemed to be making.

No one argued as they made their way unmolested through corridors. There were sprinkles of guards were laid out unconscious as she led them through everything. Shego had had some fun knocking those guards out when she had been making her grand, but silent entrance. The poor souls never saw her coming and certainly did not expect her to know so many classified ways to enter the castle. The path out was pretty clear, but Shego figured that they could use a little distraction, so she started a very small fire in place that she believed it would be not burn the whole palace down.

"You all get going. I've got something else I need to do," Shego said.

"What do you mean something else?" Drakken inquired.

"Just something else. Now, you might want to get going before they leave you," Shego pointed out.

Drakken noticed that the Seniors were leaving without him and he did not know how to get to their castle. He ran off with them and they all eventually stole some horses to hasten their escape. Shego ran off; she had one more person that she figured she could rescue.

* * *

1: shinobi: a ninja

* * *

Next time: Shego goes to rescue that one last person while Betty finds out about the sudden lack of prisoners.


	9. Add to the pressure

I don't own these characters.

9: Add to the pressure

Shego raced toward the geisha house. She had one more person to rescue since she seemed to be in "good cheer," she commented mentally in her mind. She considered it "good cheer" because she was pretty sure that had she allowed Drakken and the Seniors to be executed, she would have lived a much happier and fulfilling life. Instead, she had just broken out a gaggle of traitors and set a small part of the Shogun's castle on fire, so she figured stealing one maiko would not make much difference in the trouble that she was getting herself into.

So, she made her way toward "Akako-chan." She slid into the girls' room, expecting to be tackled again. She braced herself for it, but she was surprised when nothing happened. The room was bare, as if no one had ever lived there.

"What the?" Shego muttered and she punched the floor in anger. "Where the hell is Akako-chan?" she asked the air.

The pale woman tore out of the room and went to ask the lady in charge where her Akako-chan was. The only thing was that she did not know where to find that lady. So, she had to search the whole place. It was a good thing she knew what the woman looked like or she would have just been going through every room and yanking up every person that she saw to find out where the redheaded shamisen player was.

She crept into the room and pulled out a shuriken. She put the weapon to Vivian's throat while sitting down on the woman. Vivian coughed as she woke up for the second time that night; the first time had been a little more pleasant. Shego put her hand over Vivian's mouth as the blonde woman screamed.

"Shh! I don't want to have to hurt you too much. I just have one question and then I'll disappear and you can forget you ever saw me," Shego informed the blue-eyed female.

"Mmm?" Vivian asked in an unclear, muffled sound thanks to the hand covering her mouth.

"Where's Akako-chan?" the fire-starter inquired and she lifted her hand up slightly for the blonde to give her a clear answer.

"I don't know," Vivian answered while shaking her head to further insist that she did not know where the petite redhead was.

"What do you mean you don't know? She's your maiko. Now, tell me where she is," Shego demanded to know in a low growl.

"She's gone," Vivian stated.

"What do you mean 'gone'? You sold her or gave her away?"

"No, she's just gone."

"Then when is she coming back?" Shego asked.

"She's not."

"What do you mean 'she's not'? This doesn't make any sense. Where is she?" Shego snarled.

"I don't know. She's gone."

Shego wondered if Akako had run away. The thought actually made her smile. She was happy that the girl had left her gilded cage. Maybe she was out searching for what she wanted from life. Well, that was good news, but Shego did feel just a little dejected knowing that she was not going to see the girl anymore.

"Did she run away?" Shego inquired.

Vivian was not sure what to say. Should she agree with that lie or make up one of her own? Well, she supposed that she could go with that one since it was not like she could offer up any information on the girl. She hoped that it would get rid of the person holding a blade to her throat.

"Yes," Vivian confirmed.

"Okay. You don't go looking for her, got it?" Shego ordered.

Vivian nodded to show that she understood, especially since she did not have any plans to go looking for "Akako." Shego thought that she was saving the girl because she knew that people would go out searching for a missing geisha. She wanted to help give the girl a chance.

Shego was then gone within the blink of an eye, almost as if she had never even been there. Vivian breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed her throat. Those girls were still giving her trouble and they were gone. She wondered what the woman seemed to want with Akako; the only reason she knew that it was a woman that had been in the room was because of the voice. The darkness had obscured the features enough for her to not have guessed what the person was if she had not started asking question. The blonde thought that she might have to warn Betty and those girls.

She considered getting up and getting dressed to go tell Betty that some woman was looking for that redheaded young woman, but she decided against it. She would tell Betty about what happened tomorrow when the brunette came in for tea. She thought that she had that time because whoever that woman was seemed to know about as much about Akako as Vivian herself knew, which was not much. Vivian thought that because the woman had referred to the redhead as "Akako-chan" and even though it was never said, Vivian knew that was not the girl's true name.

There was also the fact that the woman was using the term "chan" when referring to the girl. She did not seem to be a threat, but more worried about the redhead's wellbeing. Still, Vivian would mention the incident to Betty just in case it was something serious.

With that decided, Vivian tried to go back to sleep. It was not as easy as she could have hoped. But, she at least was not again interrupted that night again.

Betty was actually hoping to get some sleep. She went home and took a long hot bath. She sighed in the water and soaked for a while in the liquid bliss of hot water. She then threw on a plain yukata and went to lie down. She smiled as her head hit her pillow. Sweet sleep without any worries for the moment; how beautiful.

"Director-sama!" a voice called and Betty shot up from her resting place.

"Why?" Betty shouted in her head.

"Director-sama! The palace is on fire!" one of her agents reported while racing through her home and trying to get to her room.

"The palace is on fire?" the brown-haired woman echoed in disbelief.

"Director-sama!" The agent finally reached the room and practically ripped her shoji open. The agent was met by a barefoot in his face, which easily dropped him. He fell to the floor.

"You know better than that," Betty said to the agent while standing on his back. She understood that he was excited and everything, but he had to remember his place and his manners.

"Sorry, Director-sama," he groaned. He had heard that she had powerful kicks, but now he could testify to that statement. She was also very fast, he noted because he had not even glimpsed the foot before he felt the force on his skull.

"Now, what's happening?" Betty inquired.

"The palace, it's on fire! They're trying to put it out and everything, but I thought you should know," he reported.

Betty sighed and decided that she was going to go check it out. She returned to her room and through on some clothes. She exited the room and started marching out of the house while her subordinate was still laid out on the floor.

"Are you coming or what?" Betty huffed, speaking to her agent.

He climbed to his feet and chased after the boss like a puppy. They marched to the palace and saw that it was on fire, but things seemed to be under control. The fire was not big and close to being quelled completely. Betty considered going to check on the prisoners, but they were on the other side of the place, so she doubted that the fire had any effect on them. Besides, there were plenty of guards around them to make sure that nothing happened and she trusted the guards for the most part. Well, the Shogun trusted the guards and she was obligated to trust the Shogun, therefore by trusting the Shogun, she trusted the guards.

There was also the tiny fact that she really just wanted to get some sleep. She had time to herself for the first time in a long time and she wanted to actually unwind before she did snap in two like everyone suspected she would one day soon. She stuck around for a couple of minutes, until the fire was totally put out. She asked for some details and was assured that it was a small fire probably started by someone carelessly emptying pipe embers or something on some dry leaves. She nodded to show that she understood and she was glad that it was rather insignificant because that meant she could go back home, which she did.

Betty eased into bed again and tried to get some sleep. She thought about the day that she was going to have tomorrow, relaxing. It seemed almost like a dream to be able to do such a thing. She would spend the day with Vivian, who made just about the best tea of all time in her opinion. Maybe she would ever spoil herself and have some junk food. She could use some sweets and good conversation that Vivian tended to offer up.

She smiled as she finally drifted off to sleep. Relaxing sounded like such a great thing to her tense, overworked mind and body. She could not wait for tomorrow.

--(Next day)

"Director-sama!"

Betty shot up from her resting place as she heard her name being called again like the world was coming to an end. She got up from her bed and as one of her employees opened her shoji, he was met with her foot. Turned out, she kicked her own nephew. The agent that had been calling her was standing a few feet away.

Betty looked a bit shocked when she realized that she knocked her nephew out cold. She bent down and apologized to the boy while trying to shake him awake. When he started mumbling, she turned her attention to the other agent, who was looking away. It would seem that he knew about the greeting that met anyone that charged Betty's private chambers and that was probably why he let Will go to open the door.

"What happened?" Betty demanded to know.

"All of the prisoners are gone!" he reported.

"What?" Betty asked in disbelief and then she dropped her half-conscious nephew. Will hit the deck with a big "thump!" His aunt went to grab her other agent.

"The prisoners escaped!" he repeated.

"What the hell do you mean they escaped?!" she shrieked in an enraged tone. A colony of prisoners in secured cells managed to escape? What did the guards have jobs for if such a thing was feasible?

"They're not in the cells anymore!" he answered while trembling in the grip of his furious boss.

Betty flung the agent to the floor and went back into her room. She threw on her clothes and pushed open her shoji with a frightening force. Will and the other agent gulped because of her evident anger. They would not have been surprised to see flames rising off of her because of her fury. They watched her march down the hall.

"Are you two coming or taking a nap?" Betty growled like a lion.

The pair of agents climbed to their feet in a hurry and followed behind their leader. They went to the holding cells and saw that they were all empty. Betty growled in anger while inspecting the bars. She looked at the wood and noticed that it seemed burned, but cleanly done.

"What could make these marks?" Betty wondered to herself. She might have considered a weapon, but she could not figure out what kind of blade would leave burn evidence. It was just that the cuts were so precise. "How did they get out of here?" Betty inquired.

"We don't know. The guards were all knocked unconscious until this morning. They don't remember what happened. We don't really know what happened with these bars either," Will reported.

"Well, do we know how they made it out of the palace?" Betty inquired. Even if the prisoners had gotten out of the cells, they should have been mixed up with all of the corridors and dead-ends. They should still be trapped in the castle somewhere.

"We're not too sure. We think they might have taken a secret passage way," Will answered.

Betty was confused. How was it possible for those people to know what route to take to get out of the castle? She had agents that still got lost around the place. There were vassals that had lived there all their lives and they still got lost in the castle and she was supposed to believe that a huge group of people had all found the right way out of it one night? It was not even logical, let alone believable, so she felt that it could not be reality.

"They had to have help if that was the case, inside help," Betty thought.

"What should we do?" Will inquired.

"Give me a moment to process all of this," Betty said.

Will nodded and left the boss alone for a moment, so that she could think and come up with a battle plan to correct the guards' mistakes. Betty quickly figured out what she wanted to do and she then split her team up. She wanted one group to trace the escape route of their prisoners and she wanted the other group to trace how the escape was engineered. She then put some agents on trying to uncover if an insider had assisted in the escape since one of the secret tunnels was possibly used to break out. She then remembered the fire from last night and considered that was probably a distraction, so she wanted to know everything possible about that fire. She then ordered all of her agents to get moving. They did not have time to fool around.

Betty sighed and got moving herself. She figured that if the prisoners had escaped and made it out of the city, they were probably heading to the Seniors' castle in their province. If they made it that far, then they were going to be able to fortify themselves in the castle's walls and wage a proper battle. She did not want that.

The one-eyed woman figured that she had better get the fastest tracker that she knew on the case. She was going back to the Possible manor and she was going to have to borrow Kim again because no one else would be able to the job as rapidly as the redhead in her opinion. She quickly made her way to the house and discovered the family "enjoying" a typical breakfast.

Kim was yelling at her brothers to stop taking her pickles while Mika, their mother, was trying to get them under control while James was sneaking the boys' pickles from them. It would seem that the Possibles really liked pickles. Or they just liked getting on each other's nerves.

"Director-sama," the whole family said sheepishly as they noticed the one-eyed woman standing in the doorway.

The family needed to be rather embarrassed in Betty's opinion. They all looked rather ridiculous with Kim holding her brothers at bay using one arm and a foot. Her mother was holding Kim's other hand because the teen seemed to be ready to punch her brothers with that hand. James was caught reaching over to the boys' dishes and plucking away their pickle slices. It was utterly amazing to Betty that such a group could hold the title of samurai.

"Kim-dono, a word, please," Betty requested.

"Um…of course," Kim answered in a confused tone. She had been home all of one night, so she could not imagine what Betty might want with her now. She turned her attention back to her brothers. "You eat my pickles and you don't even want to know where I'm going to put my chopsticks," she informed the boys.

"Kimmie," Mika scolded her daughter for such a threat.

"Sorry, Mom," Kim apologized, even though they all knew that she did not mean it. After all, if she was truly sorry, she would not have said it in the first place.

Mika did not say anything and Kim was excused from the meal for the moment. Kim stood up and stepped out to join Betty. They could hear Jim and Tim freak out when they noticed their father had eaten all of their pickles.

"Kim-dono, I need your ability," Betty said in a low tone.

"Which one?" Kim inquired suspiciously. She had many useful talents and now she wanted specifics when dealing with the one-eyed female.

"I need you to track the Seniors," Betty informed the girl.

"Aren't they in jail?" the redheaded warrior inquired.

"Long story short, they escaped."

"Escaped?" Kim echoed. How could they escape? Could the bodyguard have had something to do with it? She hoped not. With luck, the guards that had been watching the Seniors were just extremely bad at their jobs and the Seniors somehow engineered their own getaway.

"Like I said, it's a long story. I just need you to get on your horse and track them as quickly as possible," Betty implored the younger woman.

"Well, they're probably heading toward Senior's castle," Kim pointed out.

"I'd like to be sure of that, so if you could get going, it would make my life a just little easier," the one-eyed woman commented.

"I can't just leave. I just got in last night. My parents would freak out."

"Look, I need to find them before they get a chance to regroup. I'd like to catch them before make it to the castle. What if they have more guns there? Or even worse weapons considering some of the weird things that were packed away in those boxes. So, I need you to get going now."

"You want me to stop a whole army of people before they make to a castle?" Kim inquired incredulously. She could do anything, but come on, some things would take a lot more than just her to pull stuff off.

"Take your sidekick and his wife and get moving," Betty commanded.

"And now you're dragging Ron and Yori into this?" the teen asked in disbelief. She had just separated the couple of two months and now she was butting in on their lives again? The leader of the secret police seemed to be getting a bit outrageous in Kim's opinion.

"This is serious! Those people want to destroy the government and split the empire. Don't act so selfish," Betty replied in a snarl. The stress was obviously already getting to her. She could not believe that the prisoners, all of them, a whole freaking group, had escaped. What did they have guards for if that could happen? What was the point of her gathering information and going into dangerous situations if prisoners were now just able to walk out of their holding cells? Questions like that were constantly bombarding her mind now.

Kim frowned; she disliked being told that she was selfish by a woman that had just snatched her out of her home for more than two months and placed her well below her station. She had just shamed herself for the woman and her sense of duty and she had the nerve to call her selfish. Kim had half a mind to go back and finish her breakfast, leaving Betty to do whatever she had to do on her own.

"Director-sama, I know it's serious and I know what those people want to do. I also understand that you're under a lot of pressure, but I just got in and your lack of respect on my end makes it hard for me to want to go out and do anything for you, especially after what I just finished doing for you," Kim pointed out.

Betty's face tightened in a mechanical manner as if a crank was turned to make that happen. She wanted to strike Kim for being difficult at a time that she did not need anything aside for support and cooperation. But, she knew that the redhead had a point. She had already asked so much of Kim and the redhead had little obligation to her. Yes, Kim had an obligation to the nation like any other person, but it was not her task in life to hunt down criminals. Kim just did it because she felt like it.

"Kim-dono," Betty sighed. "I need you to do this. I want them caught before they make it to his castle. If they have more guns and things, we could be in for one tough fight. It would be best to stop them before they make it there and I know you can track them down the fastest. I can have more people follow behind you, but I just need them caught fast."

Kim looked away. "Fine, I'll track them for you. Let me go get my gear and then go get my friend," she replied. She had to do something because she could tell that Betty was near the end of her rope because it seemed like all their effort and work might be pissed away. Besides, she had worked on the case for so long that she could not just allow the traitors to get away.

"All right. Keep in touch in the usual manner," Betty said and then she was going to leave, but she stopped herself. She did not face Kim. "Arigato gozaimasu (1), Kim-dono," she said in a clear tone.

"No big," Kim replied.

Betty took her leave to go and handle the situation even further. Kim returned to her family and the meal. She sighed as she thought about how she was going to have to leave again. Her parents were going to freak, she thought.

"Mom, Dad, I need to go," Kim blurted out. It seemed like the best way to go about things instead of dancing around the issue like a bug.

"Go?" the parents echoed in puzzled tone.

"Yeah, Director-sama needs me to track some people for her," Kim informed them.

"But, she just asked you to do something and you only got back last night. That's not fair," Mika argued.

"Not at all. Aren't there other people that can do things like this? We don't want you gone for another couple of months," James added in.

"Well, I should do my part, like everyone else. I mean, Mom, if someone was sick today and you went to see them and then they were sick again tomorrow, you wouldn't go?" Kim asked.

"It's not the same thing," the elder redhead argued.

"It all boils down to you want to help and I want to help. We all have to do what we can," Kim pointed out.

The parents sighed. They knew that there was no stopping Kim because there never was any stopping her. She was going to take off and do what she wanted anyway. So, Kim was excused again and she went to get ready to leave. She packed up some things for her journey and was then on her way to go pick up Ron and Yori. She was halted by her mother before she made it out of the manor.

"Here, take some food too," Mika instructed her daughter while handing over a neat bundle to the smaller redhead.

"I'll try not to take too long, Mom. I promise," Kim vowed.

"Just be safe in whatever you do," the elder female pled.

"I will."

Mika nodded and let her child go, again. She wished that Kim was just staying home for a little while. She had been worried about Kim being out for so long and had some difficulty sleeping for that time, as she often did when her daughter vanished for a length of time. She supposed that she would always worry until Kim settled down and even that was doubtful.

After all, Kim was engaged to Will. Mika had been against that agreement, but the matriarch of the Possible clan had to have her way as always. She wanted the Possible family to have connections with the Director family because they were rather powerful. There were also the connections with the Du family, which was another powerful family. So, Kim and Will were going to be getting married and Mika was just hoping that no one got hurt in the process; although everyone was almost certain that some injuries were waiting in the wings of that union.

* * *

Kim sat with Ron and Yori to explain the situation to them. The couple looked upset, which she expected from them. When she sat down with them, she could tell that they were not going to like what she had to say because they hugged up next to each other, as if telling her that they were not going anywhere. She hoped that they changed their minds now that she explained the circumstances to them because she did not wish to go along on her own.

"So, you guys with me?" Kim asked with hope in her eyes, voice, and smile.

"It's not that we're not with you…" Ron replied hesitantly.

"You guys are not going to just let me go after a bunch of fugitives on my own. I mean, that would be so wrong," the redhead commented.

"Of course we wouldn't do that to you, Kim!" Ron replied with a giant grin. He laughed a little bit and then he hugged Yori closer to him. They were not cold, cruel, or heartless, after all.

"Then why are you holding Yori-chan like as soon as I leave, you two are going to cut out on me?" the redhead inquired.

"We'd never!" Ron said in a rather exaggerated tone.

"You do it all the time," Kim pointed out.

"That we do," Yori muttered. Ron used to get a kick out of disappearing on Kim when he was with Yori just because it was just nice to get over with something every now and then. They still did it on occasion, but not for something important or serious.

"Look, we'll help. We'll help," the blonde young man replied.

"Well, we need to get moving then. Pack some gear and let's go. With luck, we can catch these people and be home in a few days and never have to think about it again," Kim declared.

"She enjoys this wishing out loud thing," Yori commented, speaking to Ron.

"I know. I do the same," Ron admitted with a goofy grin.

"I probably get it from you," Kim remarked.

* * *

Shego caught up with Drakken and the Seniors. They had stolen horses, just as she had done. They had also wisely left their men and others to fend for themselves to make an expeditious and more subtle getaway. She was willing to bet that was not Drakken's idea; it was too practical and smart at the same time to be born in his rotten mind.

"Shego!" Drakken basically hooted when her horse pulled up next to his. He was rather pleased to see her and thankful that she had done her job, namely guarding his body by removing him from that damp cell.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. What, you thought you'd gotten rid of me that easily?" Shego remarked. She guessed that it was all right that she had not been able to bring Akako with her. After all, she already was going to be bombarded with questions about who she was and how she managed to break them out of jail. She doubted that she was going to answer any of those questions. She would not have liked having to hear questions about who Akako was if she had brought the maiko along.

"This is the young lady that freed us?" Senior inquired.

"Names Shego," she informed him.

"And who are you?" Senior asked curiously.

"She's my sidekick," Drakken stated.

"Sidekick?" Shego growled and she looked at Drakken with an expression of pure fury.

"What?" Drakken asked because he noticed her face.

"Sidekick?" Senior echoed and then he looked carefully at her. It was easy for him to connect the dots as to who she was, especially since she had the green skin and all. He was not sure what he should say now that he knew just who she was. "I hope my son didn't offend you," he commented since he remembered all of the times that Junior had sent her off to be with the little shamisen player. But, then he was a bit curious because a few times Shego voluntarily left with the redheaded maiko. Maybe she connected with the musician in someway, but he was not sure how. Knowing that she was woman now only bemused him on her time at the teahouse.

"No sweat," Shego replied while glancing at Junior. She could not be mad at him for acting like a brainless monkey since she got to meet someone somewhat interesting.

"Might I ask about that thing with your hands?" Senior inquired.

"Yeah, how did you make fire with your hands? Are you a demon?" Junior asked again.

"Didn't we go through this before?" Shego countered because of the demon comment. She was willing to bet that birds nested in his skull instead of a brain.

Junior eeked while his father was not deterred. "But, how do you do that thing with your hands?" Senior asked.

"It's just something I do. Don't question it. Just be happy that it and I felt like saving your butts," Shego replied.

Senior was surprised by the response. He was not used to being treated in such a brisk, almost foul manner. He frowned, but he did not antagonize her further. He did consider that his son had a point; she probably was a demon.

Shego did not care what they thought. She was not interested in telling them about her personal life and why she could do what she could do anyway. She was not there to explain herself to them, which was something she believed they needed to understand and accept. They needed to just be happy that she could do everything that she could and that she was on their side for the moment. After all, with the way she worked, that could change within an instant since she felt no sense of anything toward them. They were just amusing to her and the running right now was amusing to her. In her opinion, they were lucky that Akako had run away or she might have just taken off to wherever the little redhead wanted to go.

* * *

1: Arigato gazaimasu: thank you very much.

* * *

Next time: Kim, Ron, and Yori set out to find the fugitives while Shego is annoyed, thinks of "Akako," and attacked by someone close to her.


	10. Wandering thoughts

I don't own these characters.

10: Wandering thoughts

Kim, Ron, and Yori easily got on what they believed to be the tracks of the fugitives. It was becoming clear that they were more than likely not going to catch their prey before they made it to Senior's castle, but they pressed on. There was always the chance that they might catch the group; after all, all sorts of things could happen that could delay the getaway, like a horse could be injured, a person could get ill, or any number of things. So, they pressed on.

Kim was silently praying that "yojimbo-san" was not involved with everything, even though it was his party that had been broken out of prison. She felt like she had saved the green-skinned bodyguard before by keeping him from being involved in the criminal roundup, but he had only re-signed his death warrant if he had anything to do with the breakout. Why would he throw his life away like that? Well, she guessed that it was because he was loyal to the man that he was supposed to protect. She guessed that she could understand that, but she wished that he would have taken the chance to run and continue to be free. After all, his master's situation was practically hopeless, or so she thought. She had not banked on "yojimbo-san" being able actually infiltrate the castle and then exit with a large amount of prisoners without being seen. But, who could calculate such a factor in if that was what happened? She did not want that to be the case. She did not want him to die, so she hoped that there was some other explanation for the escape.

"Hey, can we stop for lunch?" Ron requested and then his stomach growled loudly.

"Eat while you ride. We need to catch these guys," Kim replied.

"Eat while I ride? What if I drop the food?" the blonde boy asked in a panic.

"What if we lose this trail?" the redhead countered.

"We're going to lose this trail? A blind man could follow this trail!" Ron shouted in disbelief.

"Uh-huh, blind," Rufus concurred while crawling out of Ron's haori (1) sleeve and looking down at the trail.

"We've only got a limited amount of time. Senior's castle isn't that far. If they make it there, they can make a stand. If they have guns, it could be a bloody battle. We have to try our best to catch them before they hit that castle," Kim informed the blonde boy.

"She's right, anata (2)," Yori said, using the term of endearment to hopefully calm her husband down and it worked.

Ron sighed, but he did not say anything else. He guessed that making sure a senseless, bloody battle did not happen was more important than lunch. Maybe; he could not be totally sure. After all, lunch was lunch. Food was just about the most important thing to him outside of his family, his wife, and his friends.

He did glance down at the packet that held his lunch. He was tempted to just eat while they rode, which his wife and best friend did. He was nervous that he might drop his food, though. It was actually unlikely that he would drop his meal, but he always thought of the "what if." What if he did drop it? He would be crushed.

Still, he noticed Kim and Yori eating their food, small rice balls. He decided that he was going to have to risk possibly dropping his food because he was hungry. He pulled out his own lunch and was about to take a bite when his horse suddenly tripped.

Ron and Rufus yelped as they went tumbling. The horse hit the ground along with its rider and pet. The blonde young man and Rufus tumbled a few yard while the ladies he was with gasped when they noticed what happened. They pulled their horses to a halt and fell to Ron's side.

"Anata, are you all right?" Yori begged to know in a frantic tone. They had all bore witness to some serious injuries of people falling from their horses and she hoped that Ron was not on that list now.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Ron answered with a groan. He sat up and looked around. "Oh, no. Where's Rufus? Rufus!" he called.

"Calm down, Ron-kun," Yori said, going back to her usual public phrase for Ron since he was not injured.

"Do you see Rufus? Rufus!" Ron hollered in a panic while checking his sleeves for his little bald buddy.

"Hey, Ron-kun, do like Yori-chan says. Calm down," Kim said.

"I can't. Rufus!" Ron screamed.

"Hey!" Rufus squeaked as he poked out of Kim's red mane. Apparently, he had been flung much further from the crash than Ron.

"Rufus, buddy!" Ron grinned as the mole rat charged over to him. The pair embraced each other.

"You get the feeling you'll always be second in his heart?" Kim teased Yori.

"Well, Rufus was there first, so I suppose it will be my honor to be second," Yori answered with a bit of a laugh.

Kim chuckled a bit herself and then went to go inspect Ron's horse. The horse was climbing to its feet, but it seemed to be having some trouble. She watched it try to walk and though the horse appeared fine, she was willing to bet that it would not be able to carry Ron's weight for a while. She then went to see if something in the road might have caused the horse to fall.

The redhead spotted a hole that was probably dug into the road. Was that a subtle trap? Little did she know, but yes, it was. Shego had stopped and put a few holes in the roads to hopefully slow up anyone after her and her group. It seemed to have worked. Kim now knew that they had to be extremely cautious on the road or their healthy horses could suffer the same accidents.

"How's my horse?" Ron called to his best friend. He hoped that the animal was better than his lunch. He did not even know where his meal landed. He knew that he should have just waited until they stopped to eat, but no, he had to tempt fate.

"Just as good as you more than likely," Kim answered. "We have to be careful because there could be traps along the road," she warned her companions.

Ron was not sure how to take the response that his horse was as good as he was. He was not too hurt up, but he had just been thrown from a horse. He had a few cuts and he was a little hurt now, but he was not sure what that translated into for his horse. He decided to go and see and found out.

He climbed onto his horse and tried to follow behind the ladies again, but it was now clear how his injures could relate to his horse. The horse was not moving as quickly as it could. Ron was not looking to hurt his horse anymore than it already was and so, he climbed off of his saddle.

"Ron-kun, ride with me," Yori suggested.

"All right. Kim, maybe you should ride ahead of us. You might still be able to catch them," Ron pointed out.

"Okay, I'll wait for you guys by the castle if I don't catch them," the redheaded samurai informed them.

The couple agreed and Kim took off without them. Ron climbed onto Yori's horse. She let him sit in front and then she did something that touched his heart. She offered him the rest of her lunch.

"Thanks, koibito (3)," he said as if she had given himself extremely precious.

"Don't mention it," she replied and she cuddled up to his shoulder. Inappropriate for the time, yes, but she did not care. She was happy to be near him again after so much time away from him. So, she was going to revel in being close to him, even if it was not the best time for such a thing.

The horse that the couple rode on trotted slowly. They kept pace with Ron's injured steed. The horse was not so hurt that they were just going to let it out of their sight or anything. It just would not have been able to keep up with them if they continued to go after the fugitives. They hoped Kim caught up with them, but also did not get into too much trouble since it was just her.

Kim was riding hard, actually hoping to catch the fugitives even if they were many and she was alone. She was still hoping that "yojimbo-san" was not among them; the wish was in her to a degree that she could not even comprehend it. She was also being alert and cautious about anymore holes that might be in the road, in case that had been a trap that Ron's horse had hit.

Her whole being was taut like a rope being pulled on both ends in opposite directions. She had a determination in her eyes that was unlike any look that she ever carried during a mission, but she was unaware of it. She could not explain her rigid body language, but she knew that it had something to do with her anxiety that the bodyguard would be with the fugitives.

* * *

Shego, Drakken, and the Seniors arrived at the Seniors' castle and only two of them began preparing for the onslaught that they knew was going to come. Drakken and Junior seemed to think that they were safe now that they were in the castle and had the nerve to start relaxing.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Shego asked Drakken as he started to walk off after Senior told his guests where they could stay.

"I was going to get some sleep. We've been riding for a long time and my butt's sore," he answered.

Whoa, talk about too much information, Shego thought. "Okay, first of all, never, ever mention your butt to me again," she told him. "Next, we don't have time to sleep. You just broke out of jail after being arrested for more than likely your whole plot to overthrow the government and everything, so believe it or not, the Shogun is going to be sending people after us!" she hollered into his ear, causing Drakken to jump back.

"There's no need to shout!" Drakken said while sticking his finger in his ear to relieve the pain.

"There's a need to shout if you're going to act like a moron! We need to start setting up defenses. We need to stockpile food in here in case they try to starve us out. We need to get men together. We need to do shit," Shego pointed out.

"She's right. We've got to be prepared for an attack by the Shogun. This is no time for sleep," Senior stated.

"But, Father, I'm tired," Junior whined.

"Well, if we don't get this place ready, you'll be sleeping for a long time," Shego remarked. "About until you're reincarnated," she stated.

"We really do need to get this place ready for a big fight," Senior concurred.

"Do you have any weapons here?" the pale woman asked.

"I do, or I hope anyway. I had some of the weapons shipped here when Drakken started delivering them to the manor in Edo. I'll check to see if they're here," Senior replied.

"Okay, you do that. Junior, easy job for you, go out and gather as much food as you can," Shego ordered.

"I'm not taking orders from an oni (4)," Junior declared.

Shego growled and she grabbed him by the folds of his kimono. She yanked him down to her level and held up a flexed, clawed hand in his face. He got a view of some very low toned plasma dancing along her fingertips. She scowled at him.

"If you want to die so badly, how about I do it now to save the samurai coming to have our heads the trouble!" Shego suggested and Junior whimpered.

"Shego!" Drakken sort of scolded her.

"Ojousan (5), unhand my son!" Senior ordered while waving his walking stick at the green-skinned female in a threatening manner.

Shego turned to the other two men and stared at them with anger flaring in her eyes like her plasma would from her hands. She hated being ordered around and decided to show them that it would be a good idea for them to stop doing it. She took Junior and tossed him over her shoulder. He yelled until he hit the ground, but Shego did not even pay him any mind once he was out of her sight.

"Fine, you all want to die this week. I won't stop you, but I won't stick around for it either. If you're so eager to die, you should've stayed in the dungeon instead wasting my time," Shego informed them.

"We're not looking to die," Senior told her.

"Then you need to act like it, ojiisan (6)," she replied, calling him that because he had referred to her as "ojousan" instead of using her name.

"You need to calm down," Senior told the emerald-eyed female.

"Don't tell me what I need to do. Go do what you have to do. We need to start this thing immediately. The Shogun's forces are probably right on our tails. We don't have much time," she pointed out.

Senior nodded; they did not have time to argue amongst themselves, but he did make a mental note. He was going to make sure that Shego paid for treating his son as if he was beneath her and for talking to him such a familiar and rude manner. She needed to know her place as a bodyguard for a status-less inventor. He then went to collect his son.

Junior frowned as he began picking himself up off of the floor with the help of his father. He watched the back of the woman that just disrespected him as she exited the large room. He consciously decided that he hated that woman more than he did anyone else on the planet and he was going to get her back later on. There was no way that he would forgive her for such horrible trespasses against him. He liked Drakken's other bodyguard much more; he had not figured out that Shego was the same "skinny chap" that he had so merrily offered Akako to back at the teahouse.

"Come on, my son. We have many preparations to make and not much time to do it," Senior said to his only child.

"Did you see that, Father?" Junior asked, as if it was possible for someone that had been standing right there to have missed it. It was not like he was small person, after all.

"I saw," the elder man affirmed.

"Are you just going to let her get away with that?" the younger Senior inquired.

"Of course not, but for the moment, she has a point. We have to get ready for the Shogun's reaction to our escape. That's the important thing because we need to stay alive," Senior replied.

Junior nodded to show that he understood, but all he really understood was that they needed to stay alive. He still wanted his revenge immediately if not sooner against that demon woman. He was not going to allow her to just treat him as if he was some regular person. He was the son of a daimyo. He was going to inherit the title. He was even engaged to the sister of the Shogun himself, which showed just how powerful his status was. She was beneath him and she needed to know that now.

The pair went off to pair for a long stand against the Shogun. They did not think that it was possible for them to fall now that they made it to the castle. They would store up some food and gather some men and they would make a stand against the Shogun and whatever dogs that he threw at them. With the weapons that they had, Senior was confident for them to be able to hold off the Shogun by crushing any hopeless degenerates that attacked his home.

He considered that the battle could work to his favor. If he was able to hold off the Shogun, other lords might come to his side. With combined forces, they could take on the Shogun and then he would still be able to take over the government. Maybe he would be able to have the Emperor declare him the new shogun.

His scheme might seem a bit odd, maybe even overdone to those that knew his son was actually supposed to be married to the Shogun's sister. It was an arrangement that had taken place when the previous Shogun was still alive and perhaps he would have settled for just being in the Shogun's family if only he did not see the chance of gaining more for himself and for his son. He thought that the Shogun was weak compared to his father and he should seize the chance when he had it to take over, despite other arrangements.

* * *

Shego sat up in her room that night. She was in the doorway that opened to a garden. She stared off into the sky and sort of hated that she was thinking about Akako. It seemed to suggest that she was concerned or worried for someone that she wished that she was not close to in the first place. She wondered what was going on with the girl, if she had successfully made an escape or if she had been caught and returned to the teahouse. She decided that it would probably be best for her to either consider that the girl escaped successfully or just not think of the redhead at all or she might do something stupid, like go back to Edo to find the petite musician again.

She would have loved to hear Akako playing the shamisen again. She did play it well and Shego enjoyed the sound. It made her relax and made her wish that she could play the instrument. But, since she could not play the shamisen, she felt that she had the next best thing, someone who could and did play it for her.

There was also no one to talk to now that Akako was not around. There was no one to playfully tease; everyone that she teased now was done to be mean to them because they were irksome to her. There was nothing for her to do if she just felt like lying around, not that she had time to do that anyway.

They were going to be under siege soon, after all. She did not think that she was going to die, but she did consider it. It had to be a possibility, she told herself. Nothing was guaranteed, so her life might be gone soon and she would never speak with Akako again. Maybe she would be able to live as a ghost around the girl, if only for the shamisen music, but then again, Akako did not like playing the instrument, so she probably would not play it without being ordered to and Shego did not want to be around if someone else was commanding the redhead to play. Well, it would seem that she was just going to have to die and leave it at that.

Shego wondered why she kept thinking of the petite redhead. She was not thinking of anyone else, like she tended to do when she was on the move. Sometimes, when she was sitting alone, she would think of people from the past that had been in her life, but she was only thinking of one person now and no one else. She hardly thought about her living family when she did think about other people, probably because she hated them. Well, she wanted to believe that she hated them.

Her family, they had been the one that took her freedom and that was why she loathed them. Well, actually, she had never had real freedom because of her family. She could not do anything that she wanted when she wanted in her opinion and that was why she left them and never looked back. She rarely thought about them now and it had been that way since she left.

She did not make any real friends since she had left her family and her home. Akako was the only person that she had really taken to recently and in such a thought consuming manner. She was not sure how, when, or why it happened, but it had happened. She did not have anything against making friends, especially one that saw her desire to be free as a reality and not a joke.

She was not sure why she had not really made friends before Akako. She knew that she was not friendly or anything like that, which was probably the reason, she told herself. She disliked being bothered and it was so easy to bug her that she guessed it was extremely hard for people to get near her. She was also cranky and mean, which was why people did not want to be around her too.

Perhaps, she should have stolen Akako that night before running away to see what those fools were up to and finding out that they were arrested. She could have put the girl somewhere safe and then she could have come along. At least she would have someone around that showed signs of intelligence. But then again, she also would have been putting Akako in harms' way and a huge part of her detested that. It would have been selfish and dangerous to bring a maiko with her to a place that she knew was going to be a battlefield. As far as she could tell, things went the way that they should have. Perhaps, Akako was some place safe and warm and enjoying her freedom, like everyone should have been able to in Shego's opinion.

Shego continued sitting there for a moment and then decided that she needed to get some sleep, in case the Shogun caught up with them faster than she expected his forces to. She closed her door and laid down on her futon. She preferred a comfortable place to rest than leaning against the wall, like some warriors might do.

She remained alert, even though she was supposed to be going to sleep. She could hear movement going on outside of her room and she could only wonder what she was about to have to put up with. She just assumed that it was going to be annoying.

"Why me?" Shego wondered as her room was invaded by a bunch of men.

The men went straight at her since she was lying down in the bed. She was about to show them that just because she was lying down did not mean that she was an easy win. As soon as they were close enough for her to strike, she went at them with a fury that they did not expect.

She did not ignite her hands for them. She did not see the point in it. She took down the group of men with ease as far as she was concern. She did draw blood, which was her intent. Her fingernails were like claws and she used them like a wildcat to scratch faces, but she also used them to grab into flesh, like a fishhook.

She also had some rather strong kicks, but she did not use them often. Her style was more about hand movement because of her powers and her claws. She did take the six fellows down without being touched. And then she turned her attention to her door.

"What's all the noise? Do you have her yet?" Junior asked as he poked his head into the room and was grabbed around his thick neck.

"What the hell were you just planning?" Shego demanded to know while putting her bloody finger to his throat for him to get the idea that she had no problem putting her fingers through his flesh as she had just done his six men.

"What? I planned nothing!" he insisted while trying to pull away from her, but she had a good hold on him.

"Tell me now or I'll just slit your throat to make sure I don't have to worry about this anymore."

"Nothing! I just planned to have you beaten up," he lied. He had something more sinister in store for her, but he had not counted on her being able to drop all of his men as she had.

"Listen, snot-for-brains, we are about to get attacked by the Shogun, so you shouldn't be wasting perfectly good men on me when we could be using them to save your miserable hide," Shego snarled as she shoved him away from her. She sucked her teeth. "Fool."

Junior cowered for a bit and then raced off down the hall. He was now convinced that she was a demon. He had to tell his father about everything that happened and how Shego had to be the wickedest of all spirits. His father nodded to show that he understood, but explained that they needed her for the moment. Once they were victorious in battle against the Shogun, he figured that he would take care of Shego.

--(New day)

Kim stared into the city built in the shadow of Senior's castle from a hilltop and sighed. She knew that she was not going to make it in time, but now it was pretty much confirmed. She was willing to bet that they were in the castle, but she was going to ask around to make sure and then she would send word back to Betty.

She looked around and asked some questions. As far as people were willing to say, the lord has returned and was staying in his castle of course, but that was about all they knew. She really did not need more than that.

She did wish that she could find out if "yojimbo-san" was in the castle too, but she doubted that anyone would know. She did ask a few people if a slender, green-skinned fellow had arrived with the lord, but no one knew. They told her that the daimyo had come in at night and they were not sure who was with him.

The redhead sighed because of the lack of information regarding "yojimbo-san," but chose not to despair. She wrote a quick note to Betty confirming that the Seniors were at the castle. She then reached into her obi, which was where she had a small whistle tucked away. She blew the whistle and flung the message into the air. A bird soared by and snatched the message up.

"Well, since my work here is done, might as well look around," Kim decided. The bird that she had summoned with the whistle would take her message right to Betty and since her job was just to track the criminals, she was finished. She would wait for Ron and Yori and see if they wanted to stick around, but for the most part, they were done.

Ron and Yori showed up much later that day. Kim found them in a restaurant and was not surprised that Ron was gorging himself. He was probably trying every dish that they served in the place and Rufus was helping. Kim sat down with the couple and did like Yori, namely just watched Ron go.

"Ron should do a travel log and just talk about every restaurant in every city that he's ever been in," Kim commented.

"That would be a long book," Yori remarked with a smile.

"He could do more than one," the redhead offered.

Ron did not pay the two females any mind. He was just focusing on his food and making sure that Rufus did not steal any of his grub. He loved it when they found great restaurants. It made leaving home worth it, especially when Yori was with him.

"So, you didn't catch them, Kim-chan?" Yori asked the obvious.

"No, they made it to the castle already," Kim answered the obvious.

"Did you send word to Director-sama?" the ninja inquired.

"Yeah, I did."

"So, what now?"

"Well, I was going to leave that up to you two. You want to head home or just wait for word from Director-sama?" Kim asked.

Ron mumbled his answer, which the girls guessed translated into, "Let's go home."

"She might need us," Yori said.

"She might," Kim agreed. She was not opposed to sticking around, even though she would like to go home. She figured that if she stayed around the city, she could find out if "yojimbo-san" was with the Seniors. The question had been eating away at her since she found out about the breakout and an answer might ease her mind, and settle her stomach, which had butterflies building ever since she entered the city. But, she knew only one answer would quell the anxious feeling bothering her system.

"Let's stay for a while. Besides, a battle would be fun," Yori commented with a smile.

Kim agreed with that; they could use some combat after all that they had to put up with in the past couple of months. Ron groaned; why did he have to hang around two girls that loved to fight? Now he was going to have to stay behind too and possibly help out Betty. Ah well, at least there was good food around and he was with his two favorite ladies, he consoled himself. He went back to eating while the ladies continued watching.

After Ron ate all the he could, they went in search of a place to stay. It was not a long or hard search. They got a room at a decent inn and camped out there.

--(New day)

Kim, Ron, and Yori met up with Betty on the outskirts of the city. Betty had the area surrounded in case the Seniors and other fugitives tried to flee into the city. She planned to take the castle from the back, which was open land instead of possibly killing a bunch of people in the city by attacking the front of the castle.

"So, you three stuck around?" Betty inquired. She could not believe it. From the way Kim and Yori had acted before, she was almost certain that they would flee the scene like flustered birds the moment the job was complete.

"Thought you might need us," Kim replied.

"I could always use more warriors. You want to help, go grab a bow and some arrows. I'm going to give them a chance to surrender, but it's likely that we're going to have to force them out," Betty said.

Kim and her friends did not argue. They walked off while Betty sent her message into the fortified castle. The message did make its way to Senior, who was getting ready for the battle. Senior might have gone and surrendered because he would not have the men to fight against the forces outside of his home, but the men that he had with him in Edo had made their way to the castle, so he was now in for the long haul.

"Make them suffer," Senior ordered his forces. They would fight.

* * *

1: haori: a short jacket worn over a kimono.

2: anata: darling (used by a woman to her husband or boyfriend).

3: koibito: lover

4: oni: a devil; a demon.

5: ojousan: young woman.

6: ojiisan: grandfather; old man.

* * *

Next time: Let the battle begin.


	11. Plant a field of corpses

I don't own these characters.

A/N: before I forget to tell you guys, go to my profile if you would like to see great pics based on this story by Yogurth and Jyuami.

11: Plant a field of corpses

Shego looked out into the battle that was going on from a window in the castle tower. The Shogun's forces were showering the castle with arrows, which was expected. Senior had a few surprises for them and was just waiting for a good moment to hit them with it. She figured things would be interesting when he pulled out the surprise since she knew what the surprise was, but for the moment things were boring.

She was actually hoping for the Shogun's men conquer the moat around the castle and then to break through the wall. She wanted something to do, but she was not about to go outside of the walls for the sake of a fight. She was daring, not suicidal. She yawned while watching the field, wondering if someone was going to get the idea to set an arrow on fire before shooting it at the castle. But, that was probably too good an idea for someone to think of that on their own, she told herself.

She was suddenly very interested in what was going on outside when she noticed people lighting up their arrows. It would seem that someone had grown a brain out there. She wondered what Senior was going to do now. She decided to go see.

She left the room that she was in and went to the main room where the Seniors were with Drakken. The Seniors did not even bother to look in Shego's direction, which was what she wanted. She was actually sick of them, having been stuck in a confined, though large area with them for a few days. Between Junior's stupidity and his father's devotion to him, she was ready to snap both of their necks to put them out of her and their misery. They were no fans of hers either, having grown silently hateful of her superior attitude and her ill habit of ordering them around as if she was the highest ranked among them.

"Shego, you showed up at the perfect time. They're about to show these shogunate dogs my favorite weapon," Drakken informed her.

"Oh, sounds promising," Shego said honestly.

The pale woman was curious as to what Drakken's favorite weapon was. He invented some dangerous and crazy things, so she wanted to see what he had come up with and if those idiot samurais working for Senior used the weapons right. So, she went and parked herself by a window that overlooked the battlefield.

Shego made it to the window just in time to see rockets being fired. She figured that they were like firecrackers, but when they hit, she saw that they were much stronger than fireworks. They exploded when they hit the row of the Shogun's samurai.

"Whoa," Shego muttered. That was…unexpectedly destructive.

"Whoa indeed! I'm brilliant!" Drakken declared with a crackle.

* * *

"What the hell!" Betty hollered as parts of her forces were hit by the rockets and blown away. She was even thrown back by the power from the explosion.

"Yori, you all right?" Ron called to his wife as they flung back by a rocket exploding too close to them. He landed on his chest, but did not even care about that. As soon as he could lift his head, he was looking for his wife.

"I'm fine, anata," she replied with cough. She landed on her back a few feet from her husband.

"Kim?" Ron called.

"I'm fine," Kim replied. She was lying on her side with blood coming down her face. She had been closer to the explosion than her friends, so she was now cut on her head, her eyebrow was open, and her nose was bleeding. She knew that could have been much worse than it was, though.

"What in the world was that?" Ron asked as he sat up.

"Looked like rockets," Yori answered while sitting up too.

"Really? Looked like dirt from my perspective," Kim remarked as she followed her friends' lead. She wiped her face to make sure none of her blood dripped into her eyes.

"What are we going to do now?" Yori asked.

"Kim could always use her fox magic to help us win this fight," Ron teased his best friend.

"Sure, right after you use your mystic monkey magic," the redhead countered.

"Well, I got nothing," Ron replied.

"Now, how about we try something realistic and that might work," Kim suggested.

"You got something in mind?" the blonde young man asked.

"Of course," Kim replied.

The redhead pulled out a small slip of paper and quickly jotted a message on it. She then pulled out a little whistle and blew it. She flung the rolled up note into the air and it was snatched up by a bird. She then turned to Ron.

"Now, what?" the blue-eyed male asked.

"Now, we wait and try to get this madness under control," the olive-eyed warrior answered.

"Wait for what?" Ron wondered out loud.

Kim did not answer and they had to dive out of the way of another rocket. Betty ordered her people to take cover in some nearby trees, which they rapidly obeyed as rockets continued to rain down on the field from the stronghold. While they were regrouping in the cluster of trees around the back of the castle, Kim decided to have her wounds looked at.

"Who would have thought that they had such an arsenal," Yori commented as she worked on Kim's cuts since she was there.

"And to think, we could've gone home," Ron pointed out.

"Well, we're here now. We need to make the most of it," Kim argued.

"You mean like go home?" the blonde warrior inquired.

"We're not going home. I've got a plan…or sorts," the redhead stated, which Betty overheard.

"You have a plan, Kim-dono?" Betty inquired.

"It's not really a plan. I need to wait for someone first. So, if you're going to do anything, do it," Kim answered.

"I don't have anything yet. I didn't expect them to have rockets," the one-eyed female admitted.

Betty had thought that they would have guns because she remembered those in the crates of contraband that she had taken from the Seniors' manor in Edo. She did not know those other things were exploding rockets. What other deadly weapons did those fugitives have at their disposal? She was not prepared for that. She could not even imagine that they would have such fantastic arms.

The chocolate-haired leader went to sit down and reconsider what she was going to do. She went over to Barkin Steve to see if he had any insight on what they should do. She respected his thoughts because he had been in many battles before. So, maybe they would be able to come up with a strategy to take the castle.

"We can't cross the moat," Steve pointed out, which limited the attacks that they could use on the fortress.

"Apparently the fire-tipped arrows didn't have any affect on them," Betty commented. She guessed that they were able to put out any fires that the arrows might have started since there were no signs of a blaze, like smoke, and she was right. The fact that the fires had easily and swiftly been put out told her that they had water to spare, so they might be ready to be there for the long haul and she really did not have time for such a thing.

If she took too long with the retrieving the traitors, questions about her competence would surely be brought up by her rivals, like her brother. And even though she had been loyal to the Shogun and worked extremely hard for him, he would listen to those people and he would remove her from her post. She could not allow that to happen because people would then talk worse about her than they already did. She would be a disgrace to her family. Her father, who had always shown such pride in her, would probably even shun her. She would not be able to live with that.

"We might have to wait for them to just come out," Steve stated.

"We don't have time for that. If we wait too long, I'll have to go back to Edo and send in someone else and that's just not good," the one-eyed woman replied. She could not accept leaving with a stalemate.

"Thinking about your job now?" he inquired. It was very unlike their leader to worry about herself in such hard times.

"It's all I have left," she answered him rather honestly, which was something that she often did and that he respected.

He nodded to show that he understood that. "Well, I don't see how we're going to get in there. At least, not right now. Only one wave of those rockets and we scattered like rats when a cat shows up," he pointed out. They had also fallen like rats when a cat showed up, he quietly noted since they had left some dead and dying out in the open field.

"We'll have to wait for dark and then scout around," she said.

Steve nodded because he thought that was a good idea. They needed to find out more about the enemy, so it would be good to scout around the castle and try to discover something about the building and the people inside without having to worry about them aiming exploding rockets into the ranks. It would seem that they were back-paddling for the battle.

* * *

"Did you see that?" Drakken asked in a cackling tone while pointing out of the window into the battlefield, which was devoid of human life for the most part. Some curious birds were starting to land into the meadow, though.

"That was good," Shego commented with a nod as she looked down at the destruction that Drakken's weapons caused. It would have been a sickening sight if she had not been a veteran of many battles. Bodies were blown open thanks to his rockets and parts were littering the field like so many fallen leaves.

"Good? That was great!" the blue inventor shouted with a grin. He jumped in the air with joy, clicking his heels together with pride. "And we didn't even get the chance to bring out the big weapons!"

"Calm down, Drak. It's not that impressive," the pale woman said, if only to burst his bubble for the sake of having nothing else to do.

"What? That was brilliant!" Drakken defended himself while turning to face his bodyguard. He pointed out the window with gusto as he spoke.

"Ah, it was all right," Shego said, getting a kick out of just discouraging him. He was the only person that she liked being verbally malicious to for no reason at all. Probably because if he was in the right frame of mind, he would defend himself to her and she found that entertaining.

"Whatever," Drakken scoffed and then he turned his attention to the Seniors. "You two understand my genius, don't you? You know that was brilliant, right?" he inquired, obviously needing his ego stroked.

"It was something," the elder Senior agreed. He was not sure how to describe what he had just witnessed. He probably would have called it barbaric if it was not assisting his cause.

"It did make them run like the cowards they are," Junior pointed out.

"Yeah, and you know a lot about cowards, right?" Shego remarked, speaking to the sapphire-eyed young man. She even smirked at him like the wicked demon he believed that she was.

Junior seemed to get that insult, which was something new, and he looked hurt by it. Hurt and upset. How dare she imply that he was a coward, he thought heatedly. She was merely basing her statement on an incident that he had a hand in that occurred in her room a few days ago and how he ran away like a weeping girl.

Senior noticed his son's expression and decided that he was going to have to say something. He had been putting off confronting that irksome devil woman because he was focusing on fortifying the castle and preparing to be beset by the Shogun's men. Now that he saw that they were well prepared for any plague of soldiers, he could address the issue of Shego. He could not allow that green-skinned harlot to think that she was in charge while in his castle, though.

"Now, see here, you need to show my son some respect," Senior informed Shego in a firm tone. He was going to start out civil, but planned to tear into her soon.

"I don't feel like it, so I guess he's going to have to bear with it. Now, maybe you should worry about the troops outside the castle rather than worry about Junior's little hurt feelings. He's a grown ass man, after all," Shego commented.

"That's beside the point. He is my son and I am a lord—" Senior started, but Shego was not about to let him finish that one.

"Let's get this straight, so everyone can stop acting so high and mighty. All of you are criminals. You're nothing more than men that tried to overthrow the Shogun and failed. You're fugitives with dogs of the Shogun barking at your front door. That's all you are and when you're all caught, you'll be lucky if you're forced to commit suicide like the honorable men you aren't," the pale woman pointed out.

"We won't get caught," Senior stated.

"You will if you focus on stupid things, like Junior's hurt feelings. There are bigger thing in all of this. Now, how about focusing on all of the samurais hiding in the woods around here because they're not going to stay in the woods forever," she commented.

Senior yielded to that, as much as he loathed doing such a thing, because she had a point. He needed to make sure that they were ready for when enemy regrouped. He was going to see what other goodies that he had that Drakken made. He also had to make sure that his men knew how to use those weapons.

Shego walked out of the room and wondered what the samurais outside were going to do now that they had a taste of what Drakken had up his sleeves. Would the warriors try to starve them out? That might take a few months, she figured. She doubted that anyone wanted to be in or around the castle for a few months. She knew that she did not wish to be there for a few months. How long were they willing to siege the castle?

She guessed that she would have to see who was in charge. If Director Betty was in charge, she knew that the siege was going to be a short affair. Betty did not have the time or real option for a long siege. People were gunning for her job, after all. One slip up and she would be unemployed at best and dead at the worst. She hoped that it was Betty out there then.

Shego just wanted something to happen that she could be a part of. She could not and did not want to be a part of rocket launching war or whatever else Drakken had lined up. She wanted some face to face, hand to hand combat. Well, with a samurai, probably hand to sword combat. It would still be fine considering the hands that she had.

Until the outside forces breached the walls, she guessed that she was just going to be bored or watching what madness Drakken came up with. Well, there were worse options. After all, she could be out there and getting to meet with Drakken's exploding rockets personally.

He really did top himself with those, she silently noted. They were powerful weapons, she would give him that. Maybe they would come out of things in tact thanks to those or maybe he would prove to be just as big a failure as he seemed to be and something would go wrong as it always did. She was leaning toward the latter since she knew the man and his "genius."

* * *

As the night settled in, Betty sent off a team of ninjas to inspect the castle and see if there was a way for the troops to go inside. The team ran off and Betty hoped that things went well. She then looked around for the girl that could do anything since she claimed that she had a plan. She was also surprised that Kim had not volunteered to go in with the team. Will had even been prepared to argue with Kim over it, but Kim was not even trying.

Kim was sitting with Ron and Yori, who also opted to not even bother volunteering for the attempted infiltration because she would rather be with her husband at the moment. They were all leaning against a tree, actually enjoying snacks. Betty could not believe her eye; they were acting like they were on a campout when they were supposed to be helping out in a serious campaign.

"What the hell are you three doing?" Betty demanded to know, speaking to the trio while storming over to them.

"Four!" Rufus squeaked indignantly. He hated being forgotten, even if a scolding was coming to the group.

"I don't care how many of you there are. Just tell me what the hell you think you're doing," Betty demanded to know.

"Eating," Ron answered while shoving the rest of his food in his mouth because Rufus kept trying to steal his rice ball from him.

"This isn't a picnic!" Betty shouted in a fury.

"Yeah, because we hadn't noticed all the dead bodies and my injuries just disappeared," Kim remarked sarcastically. Of course, they knew that it was not a picnic, but at the moment, there was nothing for them to do and they were hungry.

"Don't kid around with me, Kim," Betty growled.

"Calm down, Director-sama. You're getting too worked up over something that's out of your hands for the moment. We can't do anything right now," Kim pointed out.

"She's right, Director-sama," Yori concurred.

"What was your plan anyway, Kim-dono?" Betty inquired while trying to calm down somewhat. They had a good point, she told herself. There was nothing for them to do, so if they were hungry, they should eat.

"Still not here yet, which is why we're just sitting here right now," the redheaded warrior answered.

"Well, whenever you care to share, let me know," the one-eyed woman stated. She had a feeling that Kim had something good in mind, but it seemed like it was taking a while. She was going to have to go forward with sending in some ninjas to at least get an idea of what they were up against.

The team of spies first had to scope out the castle's exterior and find a way in. Once they found a way in, they were not without other troubles. In fact, their problems had only just begun. The interior of the castle was like a maze, which was how castles were always designed and they had expected that. But, the ninjas still got lost.

"You guys make things too easy," Shego remarked as she caught up with four of the ninjas as they ran into a dead end.

The team of stealth warriors turned to face the pale woman. They pulled out shuriken and flung the projectiles in her direction. She dodged weapons with ease and ran at the group. She struck like a viper at her opponents, taking two of them before they even realized that she was on them. The other two were able to put their hands up, but that was about it. Shego's hands were just too fast for them.

When the four were unconscious, Shego decided to be kind about things. She carried them to the nearest exit and left them outside. If they were lucky, one of their comrades would find them and help them. But, now, they were not her problem and she really did not care what happened to them.

Once she was done with those spies, she went to scan the castle to see if there were more. She heard gunfire a few minutes later and that sort of answered her question. She ran to the noise and got to see a pair of Senior's men admiring their rifles while a shinobi was laid out on the floor. One of the guards shined a lantern on the corpse and they got a good look as to what the firearms could do to a body.

Shego could not believe her eyes when she saw the carnage that Drakken's weapon could cause. How had he modified those guns, she wondered while looking down at the body. The chest of the ninja was blown wide up. It looked like a shot had gone through the ninja's face and ripped his jaw off his skull. It was beyond gruesome.

The pale woman tore herself away from the scene. It was not that she was so disgusted or disturbed by the sight, but she was bored with it for the most part. If the ninja was already dead, it left her with nothing to do. She wanted someone to fight and she wanted the battle to last for more than five seconds. What was the point in being under siege if she did not have anything to do? It would seem that Drakken was managing to get on her nerves by actually doing something right since he was the one that designed the weapons that were taking care of everything.

Shego strolled around the castle, but did not find anyone to engage. There were a few spies wandering the castle and trying to gather intelligence, but the guards caught them before she could get to them. The guards wasted no time using the rifles that they had. The ninjas that ran into the guards were killed by gunfire, even if they managed to dodge the first shot, either another guard would come out of nowhere and fire his gun or they would learn the hard way that Drakken had created rifles that were easy and quick to reload. Unfortunately, there were a couple of guards lost to shots because of their overzealous use of the powerful weapons.

Shego decided to go to sleep since there was nothing that she could do. She was bored, but she supposed that she expected that. She was on the defensive end of a siege, after all. If she had something to do, they would be in trouble. Still, she would not have minded something to do.

As she lay down, her mind drifted to Akako, as it now had a habit of doing. Would she ever see the redhead again? Would they ever sit and share meaningful discourse again? Would she ever be able to hear the divine songs that it seemed only Akako could pluck from the shamisen? But most importantly, was Akako all right? Was she free still or had she been returned to her cage to play her song for others? The last two questions were the ones that she truly desired answers for because it would set her mind at ease and open up the possibilities for the others.

* * *

Betty was worried when her agents did not return as the night started to turn into morning. The sun started peeking out over the hills and Betty decided to go search for the teams on her own. She found four of them, lying unconscious in the forest's beginning near the castle. She called for help as she began to inspect the crew to make sure that they were still alive.

The four ninja were still alive, but they were in horrid shape. They regained consciousness almost around noon. They could not even remember what happened to them last night to help Betty know what they were up against. They could not remember how they even got into the castle.

Betty was not sure what to think from such sparse news. What was going on in that castle? Had her other agents been killed and the four that made it out just lucky? If that was the case, how did those four make it out? They did not seem like they were in the best shape to escape from anywhere, so how did they make it out?

She turned her eye to the castle and wondered what happened in there last night. Had her four agents just been dumped out there as some kind of taunt or warning? Did they want her to see what they could do to anyone that entered the castle's walls? Perhaps they thought that it would discourage her from trying anything further. If that was the case, they did not know her very well.

"What now?" Steve asked the leader.

"I don't know. What do we have left?" Betty wondered aloud.

"We've got whatever those three have up their sleeves," Steve commented while motioning toward Kim and her crew, who were now having lunch.

"They're not saying anything. I think their idea might take a while, so we need to think of something while they're doing whatever," the one-eyed woman replied.

"You can send in a specialized team," he stated.

"I don't want to send anyone else in there without knowing what they're up against. I mean, if I just keep throwing ninjas at them and they kill them, then that's just a waste of men on my part. It also helps them because they have less people to deal with when we finally do get in there. We need more information," Betty said.

"Better still, why not send word back that we need the contraband that we took from the Seniors' home in Edo?" Steve suggested.

Betty thought about it. That would cause all kinds of havoc, but it would even things out. She supposed that it was not a bad option. She had to take those traitors down no matter what, so she might as well do that. So, she sent a messenger back to Edo to tell others to send those weapons. She would like to see what the Seniors would do when they were faced with the same weapons that they were using on her people.

--(New day)

"Wade-kun, it's about time that you showed up," Kim commented as Wade strolled over to the group.

They had been trying to take the castle, even though it was obvious that they were not going to get in. They were still being held back by exploding rockets and they were introduced to Drakken's modified guns being fired over the castle's walls. It was looking bleak on their end, especially if the Seniors had enough stockpile to go on for months.

They had retreated into the safety of the woods after a day of being fired at again. They had tried to barge the castle with fire-tipped arrows again, but that was not working at all. They were not even seeing any smoke from that effort, so they did not know what else to do. Many of the warriors believed that they were just going to starve the Seniors and others out of the castle since it was obvious that they were not going to be able to breach the walls.

"Sorry about that Kim-san, but it took a while to come up with the stuff that you need," Wade answered as he stood before Kim, Ron, and Yori.

"Hey, Wade, good to see you," Ron greeted the younger male as he took notice of the shorter fellow.

"Good to see you too. Hey, Yori-san," Wade greeted the couple.

"Hey. So, you're here to help?" Yori guessed.

"That's what I usually come around for. This was no easy find," Wade said while waving a scroll in Kim's face.

"But, I knew you would find it," the redhead replied with a smile.

"Just because it's not easy doesn't mean I can't make it happen. I mean, you're not the only one that could do anything," he remarked with a smile of his own.

"What's going on over here?" Betty inquired as she noticed Wade. She knew that Kim got a lot of information from Wade, who seemed to be able to get just about anything as long as he was given about an hour to do it. It amazed Betty at how efficient the small group could be.

"Nothing yet, Director-sama, but there will be in a moment," Wade answered, still smiling. He was obviously proud of his work; whatever that work was, Betty thought.

"What are you going to do?" Betty asked Kim, knowing that the ring leader of the whole crew was the redheaded warrior.

"We're going to get the drop on Senior-sama with this," Kim replied and she waved the scroll in Betty's face.

"What's that?" the one-eyed woman inquired.

"Blue prints to the castle," Wade answered while jabbing his thumb into the direction of the castle.

"How did you get those?" Betty asked, almost shouting. How the hell did those kids do half the things that they did?

"You just have to know where to look," the young genius answered with a shrug.

"So, what is that you're planning? I hope you're not going to go in there with just this," Betty pointed out. Sure, the last set of ninjas she had sent in had not had a map, but they still had not come out. She knew that they were dead and that was that. She did not want that to happen to Kim's group.

"Wade-kun brought more than map," Kim said.

"But, that doesn't tell me what you're planning," Betty pointed out.

"I figured that I'd show you and we'd all go in. This should make it easier since we won't be running around in the castle with no idea where to go," the redhead explained.

"What about the guns?" Betty inquired.

"Wade-kun has the answer to all of that," Kim replied.

"Wade," Betty said and she turned her attention to the little inventor boy.

Wade smiled and motioned behind him, where he had a cart full of things. Betty wondered just what it was that Wade had to combat against those guns and rockets and everything. What was the plan?

* * *

Next time: the plan and taking the fight inside, figuratively and literally since there will be a bit of in-fighting.


	12. Stand up and then standoff

I don't own these characters.

A/N: on my profile, there is a pic based on this story by Sapphicspencil. It's cool; readers should go look.

12: Stand up and then standoff

Shego stared outside a window with a dull expression in her emerald eyes and wondered why the Shogun's forces were not regrouping for their daily, useless assaults on the castle, as they had been doing for well over a week now. Had they given up finally? Had they realized that they were no match for Drakken's guns and rockets? She thought that was a little funny.

It was funny in an ironic sort of way if their enemies had given up. They were running out of weapons after repealing the Shogun's troops so many times. They did not have an endless supply, after all, and the castle did not have the resources that Drakken required to make more or anything like that. It did not help matters that some of the warriors wielding the weapons went overboard and wasted ammunition.

Ah well, she thought. It had to end sometime. She did not mind that things were ending, but she would like to get some fighting in on a personal level. She doubted that the Shogun's forces had given up entirely, but she wondered what they were going to do since they could not make it passed the weapons guarding the castle and they could not set the castle on fire like they kept trying to do.

Shego hoped that they were not going to attempt to starve them out of the castle. They had food enough for months and that was even without rationing things. She doubted that they would be able to ration things anyway. Drakken and Junior would more than likely manage to screw that up somehow.

She left the window with an almost weary turn and decided to go see what the Seniors and Drakken were up to. She was willing to bet that they were gloating prematurely because the Shogun's men were not lined up outside of the castle for the first time since the siege began over a week ago. She was not too off when she entered the room to find them laughing and making fun of the soldiers that were no longer pestering them. She rolled her eyes to the spectacle and wondered if the fellows could somehow manage to get more annoying than they already were.

"Did you see the way they ran off yesterday?" Drakken asked the Seniors.

The Seniors only laughed, showing that they had seen the samurais run off like a group of insects when someone swatted at them. They had inflected quite a few casualties yesterday. The rockets and guns were so effective that their enemies were worried about even going to collect their dead or wounded because the guards in the castle were not below firing at them when they were trying to take corpses and injured men off the battlefield. But, that did not stop some people from trying.

They only thought it was funny when their enemies tried to pull the dead or wounded off of the battlefield and got sniped for their troubles. It was like a joke to them. Shego was not of like mind in that and their laughing about it was a bit stomach turning for her. She held the belief that one should respect a formidable opponent and remember that they were people too, even if they were the enemy. They had a right to collect their deceased and offer them a proper sent off rather than being murdered in cold-blood while trying to do right by their fallen comrades and were not even looking to fight at the time.

The pale woman considered that her clowns were not as funny when they were not the underdogs. They were just cruel men with no sense of honor. She had expected more from the elder Senior, but then as she watched, she noticed that he was not laughing much. The elder Senior did seem to notice the gravity of the situation that they were in and his expression showed that. He seemed to be in deep thought with an intense look in his eyes while he stared at the floor.

"You know they're not lined up outside today, right, ojiisan?" Shego asked, speaking to Senior. They might not be getting along, but she figured that she would talk to the one person that understood how serious everything was.

"You suspect they're plotting something?" the old man inquired. He still planned horrible, terrible things for Shego when everything was over, but for the moment, he respected her attention to their problem and her offerings to solve their troubles.

"They're not plotting anything. They're scared of my power!" Drakken declared and he began cackling.

"They're not going to give up so easily, especially if a certain person is in charge. They're going to stop coming at us in a way we expect and just come in a way that we don't see coming," Shego stated while fighting back a tired sigh because she could not believe the cerulean inventor thought that things would end so easily.

"No matter how they come at us, my weapons will stop them dead in their tracks!" Drakken argued.

"Do you think you can guess what they're thinking of?" Senior inquired, speaking to Shego.

He asked Shego because she was the one that figured when the enemy was going to send in ninjas, which had happened a few times since the siege began. She had been right on those occasions and saved them by making sure there were enough guards on patrol to handle the assassins with little problem. So, he guessed that it was safe to trust her on things when it came to the battle, but he was still planning to teach her that she was beneath them when it was all over. Maybe he would force her to be his son's slave, he considered.

"I really don't know what else they might be doing, unless they sent word to Edo that they were getting their asses kicked," Shego said.

"And what would that gain them?" Senior asked.

"They did confiscate a lot of stuff when they arrested you lot, didn't they?" she pointed out.

"You think they sent word for the weapons they took?" he guessed.

"Hey, fight fire with fire," she answered with a bit of a shrug. She figured that if she was in the outside army's place, she would send word for those weapons to try to balance the scale.

"They can't do that. They can't just use my weapons. They don't even know how!" Drakken objected.

"What's to know? I point the hollowed out end at my enemy, I pull a trigger, I blow the enemy up, end of the tutorial," Shego remarked. She could train a monkey to use those weapons and probably cause the same amount of carnage as the guards at the Seniors' castle. She wondered where they found such low-lives that got such a kick out of taking a human life in such a grotesque manner. Fighting was one thing, even killing, which she was not a fan off, was one thing, but the guards seemed to enjoy the slaughter much too much in her opinion.

"It's not so simple," the blue inventor argued.

"How is not so simple? You didn't even make it so a person would have to know how to load the stupid gun. A baby could operate those things," she stated.

Shego supposed that it was genius for Drakken to make such easy to use weapons, but there was obviously a downside to it all. He did not seem to think of that when he was improving the gun or those rockets that he created. The only thing on his mind was causing enough destruction to take over his half of the empire. Well, she figured that he had just learned his lesson in planning things out better.

"Well, I had to make them easy to use or we'd have had to waste time training an army too and we obviously didn't have time for that," Drakken pointed out to win the argument as far as he was concerned.

"I didn't say we did. I'm just saying since your guns are so easy to use, it's very plausible that they sent word back to Edo to have those things shipped here. We should've had spies within their ranks to prevent this from happening or to at least alert us if it did happen," Shego said.

"It's hard to get spies within those ranks," Senior replied. He wished that he could get men that were as loyal as the ones that worked so closely to the Shogun.

"I know what you mean, but it would've made this easier. If they did send back for those weapons, we might be in trouble, especially if they have those exploding rockets. They could easily destroy the walls or even the castle, especially if they took enough of them," the pale woman commented. They might be in a bit of a spot, she thought.

"This is true. We have to figure out what they're doing and how to counter them," Senior said. "Drakken, do you have anything for that?"

"Something to stop my own weapons?" Drakken asked as if he thought that the elder gentleman was a fool for even suggesting something like that. From the look on his face, it was shocking that he did not come right out and call the lord stupid.

"Yeah, it would be good to have a defense just as strong as your offense, after all," Shego pointed out.

"Why would I make something to stop the weapons? The Shogun could have gotten his hands on that and then we'd have been finished," the cerulean male retorted, once again feeling as if he had won the argument with that statement. He thought that it was utterly ridiculous for them to even suggest that he should have made something that could have halted his own weapons. How was he supposed to know that it was possible for someone to maybe use the firearms against them? Something like that happening seemed completely outrageous to his brain.

Shego and Senior looked at the inventor as if he had two heads. They just could not believe what they were hearing. They then looked at each other and seemed to silently agree that they were the only two competent ones there. It seemed that they were going to have to depend on each other for plans and counterattacks. Now they were just going to have to figure out what their enemies were up to and what they were going to do about it.

In the back of his mind, Senior decided that he was not going to split the empire with Drakken anymore. Someone so bizarre and scatterbrained did not need to rule over people, in his opinion. Besides, it would be so easy to take the other half from Drakken and why should he settle for a half when he could have the whole country? So, now he had to do something about Drakken and his pushy, wench of a bodyguard, after he did something about the Shogun anyway.

* * *

"Director-sama, why not just let us go in tonight?" Kim inquired.

The redhead asked the question because she and her team were prepared to go into the castle that night, but it seemed like the one-eyed woman was not ready to allow them to do their thing. They had a map of the area, as well as the weapons to combat against the guards, especially at night. But, it would seem that Betty had other ideas now that a bunch of crates had finally arrived. Kim did not know what was in the boxes, but she was willing to bet that it spelled bad news.

"You don't need to do something that risky now. We should be able to take down the wall and storm the place," Betty replied while patting one of the crates. She was pleased that the boxes had arrived so rapidly because she would rather not do something incredibly risky like the olive-eyed samurai desired to do.

"But, that could cost a lot of lives on both sides," Kim pointed out.

"But, if you go in there, there's a huge chance of you not coming back out," Betty countered. No matter what, the options that they had would involve risk and death, but she would rather they fight against their opponents on a level playing field than Kim going in with her friends and getting lost and killed like the others before them that breached the castle walls.

"There's a chance of us not making it out of the big battle that you have planned too. You should let us try this before doing something so deadly," the younger warrior argued. The one-eyed leader did not get a chance to respond as her nephew invaded the debate.

"Kim-chan, you shouldn't debate with our leader," Will stated as he walked over. His tone was as naughty and mocking, as if he thought that he were king of the world and Kim was not even fit to feed pigs.

Kim turned to Will and everyone could have sworn that off in the distance they heard two cats growl at each other as the pair's eyes met. Kim and Will frowned at each other and now the question was if they would get into an argument or just skip that and go right to a fist fight. It was more likely that they would go right to the fist fight because Will had called her "Kim-chan." He used the term "chan" whenever he desired to make it seem like she was inferior to even the lowest insects.

"Why don't you back off and let us do what we're good at?" Kim said to Will with a lot of attitude and a disgusted snarl tugging one side of her lip upward because of his presence alone.

"You are good at doing foolish things, but I can't let you do something like this," he replied, faking holding some affection for his future bride. He actually enjoyed just having an excuse to call her foolish and probably have his aunt agree since she was battling with the redheaded teen over agendas.

"Foolish? I've completed more missions this year than you have your entire career," she informed him in a frustrated tone. Why did have he have to be such a bigheaded, pompous jerk of an ass? Sometimes, she just wished she could pop his big, air head.

"You don't even have missions. You're not a part of this group," he stated calmly because he felt like he had the high ground in their fight for once. He could afford to be cool until she proved to be a hot-blooded, temperamental wench that he needed to harshly put in her place.

"I don't have to be a part of the group to complete missions and I have done my part more so than anyone else out here, okay? You don't even know what I've been through for this. So, why don't you back off and leave us to get your ass out of trouble?" Kim huffed.

Some of the other warriors might have been insulted by that, but they knew that Will brought out the very worst in Kim. She was generally a nice, polite young woman that would never downgrade anyone's role in anything, but once Will got her started, she had to try to prove him wrong as quickly and as severely as possible more often than not. So, she sometimes said things that she did not think out or did not mean. Will just egged on her more by denigrating her with his words, tone, and even his stance.

To the trained eye, they could all see that Will did try to belittle Kim with the way he stood before her. But, it was something that she returned when he was around. They always stood so tense and taut around each other, winding up a great deal of potential energy that they almost always put into motion. Either the energy turned kinetic by the pair going verbally back and forth, but also when they finally physically went against each other because they could not bend for each other in anyway.

"That's not very ladylike," Will commented, sounding even more arrogant now because he had a chance to attack her on two different fronts, her pretense as a warrior and her failure to act like the noblewoman she was.

"Who cares if it's ladylike or not? We could go in there and end this without a whole bunch of people dying. Isn't that a better solution than having to kill a bunch of people and destroy a whole castle?" Kim pointed out.

"You want to do something unrealistic," the ebony-eyed spy stated soundly and condescendingly.

"You don't even know what I have in mind!" the redhead huffed while making tight fists because of her frustration with him. He was such a self-centered egotistic always looking to demean her that he was judging her plan without even knowing a detail about the scheme. He was always looking to down her and that it led him to do such idiotic things in her opinion, like protest an idea that he knew nothing about.

"I know it's foolhardy and going to get you killed more than likely. Just leave these to the people that know how to use their swords," he informed her while turning his nose up at her and looking down at her through cold, onyx eyes.

"You want to see me use this sword? I'll jab it right up your big nose," Kim declared, which earned her some low chuckles from a lot of people.

"You need to just go home," Will growled, losing his cool like ice in the summer because she had settled on coming at him with such a petty insult and people were actually laughing at him because of it.

"Make me go back home," she ordered him.

"You don't think I will?" he inquired while putting his hand on his charcoal-colored katana handle. He had no problem drawing on her either. She needed to know her place, in his opinion. He would show her how a real warrior wielded a sword.

"Do you want to do that right here and now?" she demanded to know. Her hand on was now positioned her own sword; the katana that she actually used and had no qualms with using it against him. Maybe if she defeated him once again, he would learn to respect her, she figured.

"You two, this is not the time or place," Betty told the pair as she stepped between them. She had stopped a sword fight just in time and she was very aware of that. She thought that it was such a shame that such talented adults were reduced to acting like toddlers when they got around each other.

"He started it," Kim said.

"You started it!" Will argued.

"You started it!" Kim hollered at him.

Most of the people around had seen the pair at each other's throats on more than one occasion, so they were not too surprised by their actions. They would even look forward to the fight if only they were not in the middle of a failing siege. They would even take bets on the outcome if it was another time because the pair's battles were almost epic in nature all of the time, which made them entertaining, even though the two went at each other as if they were bitter enemies. The only thing was that Kim always won, which only left Will more bitter and hostile toward her. The men around could understand why Will was always so upset with Kim; after all, no man wanted to be defeated in combat time and time again by his fiancée.

"How are they going to survive each other for the rest of their lives?" Wade wondered out loud, referring to Kim and Will, who seemed to be trying to will each other to die with their glares at each other.

"One of them is going to have a very short life more than likely," Ron remarked. He believed that Will was going to live about a week or so after marrying Kim, maybe less than that if they tried to consummate the marriage.

"I couldn't imagine having to sleep with one eye open around you," Yori said to her husband. She figured that Will and Kim would probably have to figure out how to sleep with both eyes open around each other, even though they only seemed to utterly despise each other when they started talking.

"Sleep? I doubt they'll get around to doing that with all of the arguing they'll end up doing," the blonde warrior commented.

"Okay, okay, okay," Betty said to her nephew and Kim, still standing between them to make sure that they did not start a physical fight. She turned her attention to the redhead. "Look, I can't let you just go in there and possibly die, Kim-dono. You know that."

"Director-sama, you know 'can't' isn't in Kim's vocabulary," Wade pointed out.

"Really. I mean, she's probably already planning to go in there, dragging us along when you're not looking," Ron commented as if it was no big deal. It really was no big deal to him because he knew that Kim was going to go into the castle and he was going to follow her and Yori was going to follow him. That was just a formula they had.

Betty sighed because they did have a point. No matter what she told Kim, the younger warrior was going to do what she wanted to do and that meant that the redhead was going to go ahead with her own plan with or without permission. Kim would also more than likely take her team in there too, so she might as well concede for the moment. It was the smart thing to do, she figured.

"Fine, we'll try it your way and then we'll do it this way," Betty yielded since she knew the redhead would do what she desired.

"We won't need to do it that way once we go in there and cool everything down. So, Wade, tell us what you have for us," Kim said.

"Well, I brought some new things I was working on since you said things were really bad out here. I've got my improved stink bombs," Wade informed them and he pulled one of the bombs off of the carts that he brought with him. The stink bomb was a small, round sphere.

"Doesn't look like much," Ron commented.

"Want a demonstration?" Wade asked and before anyone could object to that, he tossed the bomb to the ground hard. He quickly covered his face.

The small ball burst open and a cloud of grey smoke came from the inside. It covered a fifteen foot radius, which engulfed the group that Wade was standing with. They all began coughing and backing up from the area.

"Oh, man, that is foul!" Ron groaned as he crawled away from the stench; the terrible, rank miasma had knocked him off of his feet. Rufus was right with him, coughing as if he was chain smoker.

"Oh, man, Wade!" Kim complained while getting far enough away from the smell, although she doubted that miles would be far enough. Oh, that stuff was beyond rank. She was surprised that it had not knocked them all out. It had brought tears to her eyes, though.

"Yeah, that's a good one," Wade commented while coughing himself. Obviously, just covering his face with his hand did not save him as he hoped it would. He made a mental note to never demonstrate such a weapon while he was standing around where it would go off.

"A warning next time, Wade-kun," Betty said while trying to wave the smell away, but that was not working. It was like the stench was burning her whole brain.

They had to get away from that disgusting odor before they could even continue the discussion. They ended up backing into Yori, who had escaped almost a dozen yards away. Kim and Ron looked at the shinobi.

"How come you're not coughing?" the blonde samurai asked his wife.

"Ninpo (1)?" Kim guessed, speaking to Yori.

"Ninpo," Yori confirmed.

"That comes in handy," Kim commented.

Yori smiled a bit because ninpo did come in handy. It certainly helped her escape that stink bomb and from what she could tell, the bomb worked well. She had expected as much since Wade was just as good at what he did as they were in what they did. She did not understand why her husband even called it into question; he was just asking for trouble and he seemed to get his wish.

"Okay, well, the stink bombs work," Betty conceded. She thought that she was probably going to have to burn her clothes because she truly doubted that smell was ever going to come completely out.

"It doesn't help much if it almost knocks us out," Will pointed out, as if he was calling the small boy's genius into question.

"Which is why I brought these too," Wade said and he pulled out a mask from his cart. It was a mask designed to cover the mouth and nose and he had made it specially to combat against his stink bomb.

"Spanking," Kim proclaimed with a smile. Wade thought of everything in her opinion.

"Okay, so you got some masks and some smelly balls. So, what? That's not going to be a match for rockets and guns," Will pointed out.

"Oh, ye of little faith. Next, we have these." Wade yanked out a larger sphere with a small wick coming out of it.

"A candle?" Will asked. How was a candle going to help anything? He knew that Kim and her team were just playing around, even though they were not involved in a game.

"Flash bomb. Do you guys want another demonstration?" Wade inquired with a smile.

"No!" they all objected. They were just going to take his word on everything right about now.

"I sort of thought as much. If you use the flash bomb, you have five seconds to throw it after you light it and then you better shut your eyes. I'd like to see anybody aim a gun without being able to see," Wade commented.

"I hope you have more than that," Will huffed. He did not think that those couple of little toys would be enough to storm the castle, especially with the arms that their enemies were packing.

"I hope he's not going in," Wade said to Kim.

"Not if I can help," she replied.

"You don't have a say in who can go in and who can't," Will said to Kim in a hostile tone. His eyebrows bent down close to each other and a frown pulling his mouth to the ground, showing his frustration with the irksome olive-eyed female.

"I do since this is my plan," the redhead countered soundly, but seeming a bit smug about it too.

"When did it become your plan?" he demanded to know, his nostrils now flaring out as he glared at her with intense hatred in his charcoal eyes.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe around the time I sent the message to Wade!" she answered the obvious with her fists clenched tightly together, as if she was ready to strike the arrogant spy.

"You two!" Betty hollered and stepped between them again to make sure that they did not get into a quick battle while everyone was focused on Wade's inventions.

"Tell her I'm going in there," Will said to his aunt, still appearing quite upset with the redhead.

"He can go in there all he wants on his own, but he's not coming with us," Kim declared while turning away from the infuriating young man.

"That could work. Wade, do you have enough for more than one team to go in?" Betty asked.

"I've got more than enough for everyone. I always come prepared," the dark-skinned genius answered with a smile. Kim always made sure to thoroughly inform him of a situation, so he could show up as prepared as possible and he always did.

"Well, this just might work. As long as you do have more than just those stink bombs and flash bombs," the one-eyed woman said.

"I might have a few things," he commented, still smiling. He figured that if things were going as bad as Kim made them sound in her note, then he needed to bring her as much help as he could. After all, he had to pull his weight in the team if he wanted to have a team to belong to.

* * *

Things were too quiet out there as far as Shego and the elder Senior were concerned. A whole day without any activity was just too suspicious, even if it did just mean that their enemies were tired of being shot at and blown up. Still, they did not like it.

Drakken and Junior took the silence as a time to celebrate their victory; like Junior had even done anything, Shego thought. The pair decided that it was a good time to get drunk, so they had a servant bring them wine and food. They were not in the same room as Shego and the elder Senior, which was good because seeing something like that would have pissed Shego off a great deal.

"What do you think? A ninja raid?" Senior guessed.

"Probably. It would be the only way for them to do anything considering the moat, the wall, and everything. Besides, we can't use the rockets on them inside the castle. It would be the smartest move if they're going to do anything right now, even though it does leave them to be prey for the gun-wielding guards that seem to like blowing ninjas open. They might just be waiting for some real fire power or maybe even some more men to just storm the castle. There's a few other options for them aside for just sending in some assassins or spies or something like that," Shego replied and she shrugged.

Really, Shego had no feelings one way or another about what the Shogun's forces were planning. Out of everything, no matter how insane things were going to get, she knew for a fact that she was going to get away before anything heavy landed on her. She would do her part while she was there and give input to whoever would listen, but if or when the situation became hopeless for her comrades, she was going to let their attitudes dictate her actions. If they continued to act as they were, she was not going to trouble herself with them as they seemed to be more eager to die than to live.

"Well, I'll make sure to have all the guards out," Senior stated.

"Sounds smart," she commented in a noncommittal tone.

"Anything you'd like to add?" he asked. He noted how detached she seemed to becoming toward their plight. She seemed almost bored with what was going on; she was actually getting close to reaching her limit of being around the people that she was stuck with. He thought that it was good that she was getting lax because it meant that when everything was over, it would be easier for him to take his revenge against her. She would never see it coming and he would have her in chains, waiting on his son before she knew what was going on.

"What more can you add? We might want to tell that rambling blue idiot to break out some other weapons if he has them. If there are ninjas coming, they're not going to come like before. They're not just going to let some mindless imbecile gun them down again," she replied.

"That's true. Where is Drakken anyway?" Senior asked.

"Not getting on my nerves, so I don't really care."

"Most bodyguards would care about the wellbeing of their master."

"He's not my master," she informed the old man as she turned to leave his company.

Senior did not say anything as she walked away. She was just about the most uppity servant he had ever witnessed. She seemed to think everyone was beneath her when she was actually the nobody amongst them. He wondered how Drakken came across her. He did not wonder why Drakken kept her around, though. He had seen her in action, after all.

Shego was not sure what she was going to do with herself. She was a little doubtful that their enemies were going to attack tonight, but she would not mind it if they did. It just seemed too obvious and if Director Betty was in charge, she doubted the woman would go for the obvious. Unless, she found some rather exceptional ninja and that was an interesting thought.

The pale woman walked to the window and looked out, checking on the action of the world. The sun was sneaking off behind some hills as night approached and that was the only thing happening outside the window. Well, she guessed that she would find out if there were stealth warriors coming in soon. If they did come in, she hoped that it would not be boring or a massacre again. She needed something to do or she was just going to sneak out of the castle sometime soon.

She would rather not have to be trapped around morons for months on end if the siege pressed on. She was planning to give the circumstances another week or so, just to see what happened and then she was going to go her own way, at least for a while. If the siege persisted beyond the week, she also planned to see how her companions reacted to that. She was not interested in the arrogant attitudes that they had going now and that was why she would leave, to give herself a break. Maybe she would return to them or maybe she would enjoy being on her own. There was also the chance that while she was gone, they could be taken and then she would have to consider if she was going to rescue them again. Sometimes, she even dared to wonder why she put up with such fools.

* * *

"Do these pants make my butt look big?" Ron asked. He was sporting some dark blue pants to go along with a matching jacket.

"Why is it every time we put on some 'sneak' gear, you have to ask that question?" Kim inquired.

"Sneak gear?" Will echoed.

"It's what Ron-kun calls the outfits," Yori replied. They were all dressed in dark blue, hoping to blend in with the oncoming darkness.

"Okay, so with more than one team going on, you can search every room that they might be in once you make it to the keep," Wade said while looking down at the map of the castle. "Do you all got this in your minds?" he inquired, referring to the layout of the fort.

"For the most part," Kim answered.

"You know, we could just wait until you all know the map," Wade said.

"I'm not really interested in waiting," the redhead replied. She wanted to go home. She had not been there in way too long in her opinion, not even bothering to count the one night that she had spent there when her mission had ended.

"If she's going in, I am too," Will declared.

Some might have thought that his declaration was sweet or loving or something like that if only they all did not know how he did mean it. He was not going to allow Kim to show him up. He was not going to let her take all of the glory or credit either. He would not let it seem like she was better than he was. Besides, she might need him to get her out of some trouble since she did have a tendency to get into things and since he was superior to her, he felt that he was responsible to save her from herself.

There were five teams of four that were going to go in, although Kim's team would only have three because Wade did not go into battle. Betty would have stuck Will in Kim's team if only she did not know that it would be a disaster. Will and Kim would some how get to arguing and blow the whole mission; it had happened once a couple of years ago. No one wanted a repeat of that.

All of the teams took separate ways into the castle since the blueprint of the castle did show several different secret passages to go in. They knew that some of the corridors had to be traps, but Wade seemed to know those too and told them what to expect. One day, Betty silently swore that she was going to find out how that boy knew all that he knew.

Kim sometimes questioned how Wade knew so much too, but she was not too interested in that at the moment. She just wanted to close the mission, grab the bad guys, and go back home. She also hoped that she did not come across "yojimbo-san" while in the castle. She hoped that he was not with his so-called friends anymore.

She had no idea what she would do if she did come across the bodyguard, except maybe feel disappointed that he had not taken the chance that she had given him to be free. Was that it? Would she feel let down if he was involved with everything? Well, she knew that she would feel that way, but it seemed like there was more to it. There was an almost anxious feeling building in her because she thought that "yojimbo-san" might be in the castle with the other fugitives and that meant that he was once again in danger of being captured and being killed for treason. The notion still did not sit right with her, even though "yojimbo-san" seemed to be all right with going along with traitors.

Kim, Ron, and Yori moved through the castle silently and looked around a corner. They happened across a group of guards armed with guns, but they hide in the shadows to avoid being seen. Kim reached into a pouch on her hip and pulled out a flash bomb. It was time to see what Wade had put together.

"Ron-kun, do you have a light?" Kim inquired.

"Yup," Ron answered. He had flint stones. It took him a moment to get a spark, but he did get one and he lit the bomb.

Kim quickly got rid of the sphere into the group of guards and she ducked behind the corner again. Five seconds later, there was a huge beam of white light that lit up the area almost like it was daylight. The guards screamed in pain when the brightness hit their eyes and the trio ambushed the guards, quickly knocking them out before their eyes readjusted to the dark.

"Wow, Wade is good at this," Ron commented after they dropped the group.

* * *

Shego strolled by a window while wandering the halls of the castle for lack of a better thing to do and she noticed that there were flashes of light going off in the lower, outer parts of the castle. She did not need to be out there to know what was going on. She figured that she might as well warn the others. Maybe something interesting was happening. She wanted to see her comrades' reactions too, just to figure out if it was worth her time to be around them for even as long as she planned to.

"You guys, we have company," Shego informed Drakken and the Seniors when she found them having drinks.

"Company?" the elder Senior inquired. He had thought that they were going to be left alone for the night, which was why he decided to have a drink.

"Yeah, company. I think the ninja strike is on," the pale woman replied.

"They'll never make it to us," Drakken declared in a smug tone. He sounded unbelievably confident in that statement and then he sipped his drink, further displaying his confidence in their power.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Shego remarked. She doubted that they would come in again if they were going to just be slaughtered again. Their enemies had to have some plot against them.

"Even if they do make it this far, I've got something for them," Drakken proclaimed and he began laughing again. Shego looked skeptical on that idea, but she did wonder what he had up his sleeves. After all, his weapons were proving more than formidable now. Well, she would see what the outcome was going to be.

* * *

1: Ninpo: refers to ninja skill, but mostly the fictional and mythological actions ninjas were said to perform, like being able to disappear and such.

* * *

Next time: "Akako-chan" and "yojimbo-san" are reunited.


	13. Set off the surprise

I don't own these characters.

A/N: on my profile, I have a question posted to the people that read this story. I can't remember it off-hand, so you have to go to the profile to see what it is. Sorry about that.

13: Set off the surprise

The Seniors' castle was being invaded and they were quite aware of that. They were just fairly certain that the guards would get rid of the insects that had crept into the castle like a tiny troop of ants. And even if the bugs made it into the inner workings of the castle, Drakken claimed to have some great, secret weapon that would definitely rid them of those Shogunate vermin once and for all.

So, instead of fleeing the castle or at least going to a defendable room, Drakken and Junior were drinking. The elder Senior had had one drink, but decided to halt when the information came of the attack. Shego and the elder Senior were now discussing what could happen with the invaders. Drakken was half-listening to the conversation and objected with a bit of a slur every time that his bodyguard dared to suggest that their opponents would make it so far while they were facing his guns. Shego rolled her eyes every time Drakken spoke because he had such a one track mind and failed to consider that things could possibly go in a different direction than the one he had planned for.

"How about both of you try not to get too drunk while there are enemies walking around the castle," Shego suggested to her "boss" and Junior since they were still kicking back drinks like they were relaxing at a teahouse.

The last thing that she wanted to do was have to deal with drunken morons while having to get them out of the castle because the Shogun's forces made it further than expected. In fact, she would be tempted to leave them if things came to that. Besides, they needed Drakken sober enough to get his secret weapon if necessary. He might have to operate the thing too, even though he seemed good for making a very easy to use killing machine.

"You worry too much, Shego," Drakken informed her in a rather nonchalant manner. The sake seemed to have loosened him quite a bit.

"Yeah, I tend to do that when an army of samurai are out to kill me and there are ninja crawling around the place I happen to be staying," she remarked.

"There's nothing to worry about. They won't make it by the outside guards because they've got guns," the inventor pointed out.

"Guns that are low in ammo, so unless they're going to start clubbing people with those guns, I think there's a little reason to want to think of something else. You know, just in case," she replied.

The green-skinned bodyguard did not even bother with pointing out that it was dark outside. Sure, their guards had lanterns, but it was still night. There was the chance that there might be more troops coming in than before and their guards could easily be overwhelmed if enough people did sneak in. Of course, the cerulean inventor had not considered those possibilities and they still did not come to mind. Shego would not be surprised by that because her employer seemed to have a narrow frame of thinking, which was hardly a good thing in the time of battle.

"It's all right. If they make it passed the guards, I have something better than guards lined up," Drakken declared and he dismissed Shego with a wave of his hand.

The emerald-eyed warrior took some offense to that action and decided to just leave those morons alone. She was starting to lose the very tiny amount of patience that she had left for the group that she was with. It was not even like their delusions of grandeur were amusing to her anymore, so they hardly served a purpose to her. And the way that they all seemed to think that she was the one beneath them had worn terribly, dangerously thin.

She went to a window to watch the battle that was going on right outside, underneath them in the lower parts of the castle. She wondered how long it would take the troops to get into the main area of the castle and for the idiots that she was with to start panicking. She considered that she might just leave them if things got bad enough because they were not doing much to save themselves. Why should she have to trouble herself if they were not doing the same? She had not signed on for such stress either, so the thought of leaving them to whatever destiny had planned for them was working its way closer and closer to the forefront of her mind.

* * *

"This is going better than expected," Betty muttered under breath as her people continued their assault trying to march into the inner workings of the castle.

She could not believe that the flash bombs, the stink bombs, and the few knock-out gas bombs that Wade had invented were actually enough to go against the gun-wielding guards in the Seniors' castle. He had given them a couple of other things to use, but they had not even had to bother with those because the stink bombs and flash bombs were doing well against their enemies. The flash bombs were blinding and the stink bombs were even causing some guards to pass out as soon as they caught a whiff. The guards that did not fall out were unable to do much in the choking stench and they were easy to take down. The knock-out bombs were not even being wasted on the guards for the most part.

Betty wished that Kim had brought Wade along from the beginning or at least that the boy had shown up faster. She considered that she might have to stop being so snippy toward "Team Possible" and just be grateful that they were around more often than not. Maybe she would treat them to a big meal when they got back to Edo to show her appreciation, after she got chewed out by Vivian anyway since she had stood the blonde up on their agreed tea time. Vivian was going to grind her into a fine powder, she was so sure of that.

The one-eyed woman stopped thinking about that as she hit a corner and was confronted by a trio of armed guards. She did not even bother to use a bomb on the three of them, just making sure to attack with the speed of lightning to make sure they did not get the chance to aim their weapons at her. She took them down with her devastating kicks, knocking them unconscious because she kicked like a mad horse, or so the rumor was anyway. The guards might have been able to confirm that when they regained consciousness and if they remembered what happened.

Betty was pretty sure that they were going to make it to the inner parts of the castle if things continued going the way that they were, for her and her team anyway. She hoped that things were going the same for the other teams. She did not want to lose any more agents.

* * *

"Man, I'm glad these masks work," Ron commented as a group of palace guards collapsed thanks to one of Wade's stink bombs. He spoke in a very low tone since they were being sneaky. He was actually not supposed to talk unless it was absolutely necessary, but he always ignored that rule; it was Betty's rule for anyone that worked with her and her group. He tried to make it a point to ignore her rules when it was not life-threatening to do so.

"Really," Kim concurred in a very small voice too. If the masks did not work, they would have fallen out way back near the passage that they entered the place through because those bombs were potent. She could not imagine how concentrated the smell had to be in a narrow hall because out in the open it had nearly caused her to fall out.

"What do you think Wade-kun put in these bombs?" Yori wondered out loud, but spoke in a whisper.

"Ours is not to question what or why or how he comes up with these things," Kim remarked in a hushed tone. She was smiling behind her mask.

"I suppose so," Yori agreed.

"Whoa, hold on," Kim said and she halted the couple. They all leaned against the wall and the redhead peeked around the corner that they had just come to. There were five guards standing around with their guns at the ready.

"How many?" Yori asked in just about the tiniest voice that she could muster for Kim to hear her.

"Five, ten feet away, standing in almost a circle. How many stink bombs do we have left?" the redhead inquired.

"I'm down to four," Ron reported.

"I still have most of mine," Yori informed them. They each had had twenty of the small stink bombs because that was all that would fit in their waist pouches. She still had most of hers because her husband was having fun being the one to use his, throwing them into groups of guards that they happened across.

"Okay, so same attack as usual," Kim whispered.

The couple nodded; they had been hitting enemies with the stink bombs and then attacking with the speed of light against any guards that remained on their feet. Yori passed Kim a stink bomb since the olive-eyed samurai was the one that had seen the group already. Kim took the bomb and tossed it at the guards. The guards actually saw her as she made the throw. They opened fire until the bomb cracked one of them in the forehead. Kim dived to safety while the guards began choking on the foul miasma that fumed from the bomb.

Team Possible went to work as soon as the gunfire ceased. They charged into the guards and quickly took them down with powerful hand strikes. The guards fell to the ground, still choking and not thoroughly injured. The team moved on, drawing closer to the interior of the castle.

"Kim-chan," Yori said.

"Yes?" Kim replied.

"I am a little curious as to what you expect to find when we do make to the inside," Yori admitted. She knew that it was not really the time to discuss the issue, but it had been on her mind and she supposed that the timing was not going to get any better through the night.

"I don't expect anything except for criminals," the redhead answered, knowing what her friend was trying to hint to.

Kim was hoping that she did not find the bodyguard among the group. She would not mind never seeing the bodyguard again as long as she did not see "yojimbo-san" with those traitors. She just wanted the bodyguard to remain free and to find his way in life. Surely he could do some good somewhere if he just stayed true to himself rather than following his master.

Yori had a feeling that Kim desired to see the bodyguard. There was something between those two, the ninja was certain of that. She had not had the chance to see Kim with the bodyguard much, but the way that Kim had not seemed apprehensive about being alone with the bodyguard in the slightest hinted at something. Something that Yori decided not to consider.

* * *

"This isn't looking too good," Shego muttered to herself as she noticed there was still fighting going on. If they were going to successfully and easily repeal the Shogun's forces with those guns, they would have done it already in her opinion. She decided to go out for a closer look to see what they were up against.

Shego trotted outside the tower and went to find some invaders to engage. She spotted some below her, but saw that they were about to take on some of the guards. She decided to wait because she wanted to see how they were making it passed all of Senior's men, especially the ones armed with Drakken's guns and still packing ammo.

She watched as a stink bomb was thrown into the ranks of the guards and the guards could not take the foul odor. The ninjas easily took down the castle guards, who were too busy retching to remember that they had guns and jobs to do. The guards were knocked unconscious and left where they fell.

The pale woman disappeared from where she was and went to go investigate another incident. She knew that they could not be foiling the guards with just smelling projectiles. She easily found another group, which was even closer to the inner parts of the castle than the other invaders. And then she saw them use the flash bomb; well, she saw it for a moment.

The flash caught Shego by surprise and she fell off of the wall that she had been perched on. She landed on a small, well-pruned tree. She blinked several times and shook her head, hoping to dispel the spots that were flashing before her eyes. Not only was she temporarily blind, but it hurt like hell too. She vigorously rubbed her eyes with her palms when blinking did not help.

"Shimatta (1)," Shego cursed while continuing to rub her eyes because of the pain. She even threw a little tantrum while still in the plant because her eyes were killing her. She was going to beat the living crap out of those ninjas when she came across them again.

It took almost a full minute for her to be comfortable with just opening her eyes again. She crawled off of the tree and staggered around for a moment. Once her legs were acting all right, her eyes were still bothering her. She rubbed her eyes a little more before feeling comfortable with walking off.

Shego ran back into the inner part of castle and went back to the room that her male cohorts were still in. Drakken and Junior were still drinking, much to her frustration. She was ready to just slap them around. They were being serious invaded and those morons were still drinking!

"I hate to break up your little party, but those guys are going to be in here drinking with you in about five to ten minutes, give or take a while considering how stupid the guards are around here and the blinding light they're packing. So, unless you guys are ready to go back to Edo right now in shackles, I suggest we do something," the moss-hued warrior informed the trio.

"Calm down, Shego," Drakken said in tone suggesting that he was vexed with her. She was ruining their good time with her alarming nature when there was nothing to worry about as far as he was concerned. He had things under control with his inventions; he was certain that his weapons would save the day.

"Calm down? Okay, fine. I'll calm down. I'm out of here. Once I'm a solid mile and a half away from you assholes, I'll definitely calm the hell down. You guys make sure you greet the ninjas coming up nicely. Offer them something to drink and everything," Shego remarked.

"Shego, you're being too antsy about things. I told you I have a secret weapon. Right, Senior?" Drakken said to the lord.

Senior frowned because the inventor was acting way too familiar with him; Drakken had not used an honorific when addressing the lord. He supposed that it was a petty thing that be upset about at the moment with ninjas marching toward the inner workings of the castle. They really needed to focus and get their priorities straight.

"He's right," Senior said to Shego.

"Well, you might want to get the secret weapon because, believe it or not, they're pretty much at our door," Shego informed them.

"You're probably exaggerating," Junior commented while waving her off as if she was insignificant.

The green-skinned female growled in anger. She was sick of them making light of the matter; her tiny bit of patience evaporated at that moment. She grabbed Junior by lapels of his yukata. She flung him through the shoji, knocking the sliding door down. She then stomped out to him and grabbed him again while he was attempting to get his empty-head together. She dragged him over to a window and shoved his head through it, forcing him to stare out into the action.

"Do you see that?" Shego demanded to know while pointing out to the battle grounds. There were sounds of the fighting, fists hitting flesh, steel hitting steel, shots from rifles, hollers of pain, and bursts of light from the flash bombs.

"Unhand me!" Junior ordered while his father and Drakken ran out to see the mayhem.

"That's them, coming for you and you and you!" the pale woman stated, pointing to each man.

"And you," Senior added since she seemed to think that she was untouchable. She might look it and act it, but he was rather certain that she was not demon and thus, she was not immortal.

"And me? Funny, I don't remember being rounded up and put in a cell by the Shogun's dogs. They don't even know I exist," Shego stated smugly. She even smirked at him to drive home the fact that she had less to worry about than they did.

"What?" Senior asked and he realized that she had a point, but she decided to explain it all anyway.

"They never saw me and I don't have much problem leaving you all to your lot if you're not going to take this seriously. They're not coming up here to throw you a fucking party. They're coming to either kill you here or take you back to Edo for the Shogun to sentence you to death, death by crucifixion more than likely. I won't lose any sleep on either option if you're going to act like morons," the raven-haired woman informed the bunch quite seriously. She knew that she was going to make it out of everything all right, so she was only there for them at the moment and they were not really compelling her to remain with their behavior, especially by being so condescending toward her.

"Drakken, we need to get those secret weapons," Senior said now that he saw how close the Shogun's forces were to where they were. He did not think that they would move so quickly through the castle. It was as if they knew how to make it to the keep, he thought.

"Um…okay," Drakken agreed. He was slightly alarmed by the closeness of their enemies and he thought that it was about time to hit those Shogunate hounds with something they had never seen before.

The group walked off, following Drakken and Senior. Senior picked up a lantern along the way for them to make it through the night cloaked fort. They ended up in a cellar, going through secret passages to avoid the combat. They stopped in front of a row of some things that were covered with cloth.

"I was hoping that we could save this for the Shogun himself," the scarred inventor whined slightly.

"Yeah, well, I was hoping I'd be taller, but things don't always go the way we want in life," Shego remarked.

Drakken frowned at Shego for her smart mouth before turning his attention back to his secret weapon. He then pulled away the sheets covering his great invention. He looked rather proud as the sheets hit the floor and revealed what he had done. The others appeared puzzled.

"Well?" Drakken said, waiting for his praise.

The others were not sure what they were supposed to say. They were looking at some statues of women as far as they were concerned. His big secret weapons were female statues? How were statues going to help? Especially statues that were hidden away in a hole? They were not even sure where to begin with hollering at the blue nut.

"That's it, I'm out of here," Shego declared, sounding deathly serious. Drakken's actions had just gone from amusing to sad. He had gone off the deep end and she was not holding his hand on the way down.

"What, do you mean?" Drakken inquired in a puzzled, yet loud tone.

"You dragged us down here and pinned our victory hopes on a bunch of statues!" Shego pointed out. Oh, all the time she wasted with these losers, she thought in a fury. Of course, there were worse losers to waste her time with, but still the fact that she had wasted her time was just too much.

"Statues? They're not statues," the blue inventor informed them.

"Then what are they?" Senior asked curiously.

"I call them Bebes!" Drakken proclaimed proudly, earning blank stares from his companions.

"Do you want to explain how they're going to help or should I go back to my statement of being out of here?" the pale woman inquired.

"Oh, right," Drakken said. He then went into explaining just what he had created. They were mechanical warriors, he explained to the group.

"You mean like giant chahakobi-ningyou (1)?" Shego asked with a craned eyebrow to show her confusion. What were they going to do, walk up to the invaders and offer them tea to quell the siege?

"They not chahakobi-ningyou. Nothing like those. These are deadly weapons," Drakken argued.

"Okay, so how do we turn them on?" Shego inquired. She knew that to activate a tea-serving doll, a cup had to be placed on its tray. She did not see any trays for Drakken's dolls.

Drakken looked at Shego like she was the idiot, which she noted and took some silent offense to. She did not bother to voice that because she needed to see how tea-serving dolls were going to save the day. The water-colored inventor went over to the Bebe in front of him and twisted its arm. The statue came to the life and Drakken ordered the machine to go out and "kill the dogs of the Shogun." The Bebe walked out of the cellar and went in search of the spies. Wow, it would seem that Drakken was not as stupid as he appeared half the time, his bodyguard thought. They were all stunned by that fact.

"So, to activate these things we have to twist all of their arms?" Senior asked as he looked around at the army of dolls. There had to be over a hundred windup machines there.

"Well…yeah. How else would we do it?" Drakken countered.

Shego decided to take it back. He was as stupid as he appeared most of the time. If he could create such things, why not make a better way to get them started? He had to go with some tiresome, time-consuming way to get the thing going.

"Well, start twisting," Drakken ordered.

The others frowned, but they got to it since it was their last resort. They hoped that the machines were as good as Drakken swore they were because if not, they were going to hand him over to the Shogun personally. It hurt knowing that Drakken was the last resort.

* * *

"We're almost there," Kim informed her two partners. They were pressed against a wall and Kim was glancing around the corner again. They were sweating heavily from the fighting and trying their best to control their breathing to avoid panting to make as little noise as possible.

"Any more badnicks waiting for us?" Ron asked with a kunai in hand. He had run out of stink bombs. His chest was heaving and he was doing his best to not request that they stop for a breather. He had to start working out more, he silently told himself. Or maybe it had not been the best idea to eat such a big supper before going in on a raid.

"I don't see any so far. Let's make a run for it," Kim suggested.

"All right," Yori concurred.

The trio dashed around the corner and was a little surprised that they had not run into any guards. They had fought plenty of men on their way to get to the interior of the castle, but they did not know how many guards there were and they were not certain that they had gotten enough to count as "them all." They understood that Seniors' men had to be split to cover every part of the castle and also had to be called to confront each team of intruders, but they still felt like there should be more guards.

"This is a cake walk," Ron declared as they rounded another corner and were met with no resistance.

"Stay focused. Just because there's no one out here doesn't mean there won't be people inside, which we haven't even made it to yet," Kim pointed out.

"All right, all right," Ron yielded.

The blonde samurai still thought that things were going to be smooth sailings since they had not run into any guards yet. They continued on and they could see an entrance to the inside of the castle. Ron was ready to let out a hearty "boo-yah!" when they literally ran into some resistance. They noted the "clang" sound that when they hit the figures and then they had to dodge swords.

"Did they just clang?" Ron inquired.

"Yes," Yori answered.

"Since when do guards clang?" Ron asked curiously while ducking one of the swords of the three guards.

"Who cares? Get them before we end up on the wrong end of the sword," Kim replied.

The couple agreed to that and everyone started to defend themselves. They were glad that they had not run into guards that were packing rifles or they knew that they would have been in some real trouble. They went to counterattack with hand attacks only to hear that "clang!" sound each time they touched the guards. And they realized that it hurt like hell to hit the sentries.

"Ow!" Ron hollered while his female companions just shook their throbbing hands.

"It's like hitting a gong," Kim stated while flexing her hand to ease the agony away.

"Let's see how they handle this!" Yori declared while flinging some shuriken at the sentinels. Her projectiles bounced right off of the guards.

"That's not right," Ron pointed out.

"Let's see them handle this!" Kim proclaimed as she drew her used katana and went at the guards.

Ron and Yori just stood back because they knew that no one could rival Kim once she pulled her main weapon. The redhead attacked swiftly with powerful, though non-lethal strikes. They all noted the odd noises that came from the guards as the redhead took them out. When Kim was finished the guards were still standing, which the trio could not believe. Kim's sword attacks were always the most efficient hits that they had ever witnessed and they had never an opponent remain standing after facing her.

"Uh-oh," Rufus squeaked and he took shelter in Ron's shirt.

"You said it, pal," Ron agreed and then the guards finally fell. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. And although she did so more subtly than her husband, Yori also breathed a sigh of relief.

The guards again made a strange noise as they hit the ground. Kim was curious and she wanted to know what was going on. She touched her sword and noted that it was bone dry. She sheathed the blade back on her hip and then leaned down to inspect the group that she just fell.

"What are you doing?" Ron inquired.

"Something isn't right about these guys," the redheaded teen replied.

She found the first thing that was not right about the guys were that they were not guys. The guards seemed to be female upon closer inspection and even closer, it seemed they were not even human. Kim touched one of them and noticed that it was made of metal. Before she could gather any further understanding, the sentries began to pick themselves up.

Kim jumped back and quickly drew her sword again. Ron and Yori were stunned that the guards were getting up from Kim's initial attack. The redhead wasted no time assaulting the guards again. She launched herself at them and surprised her friends because of the powerful attack that she had hit the group with. The couple thought that Kim had killed them as parts fell off of the guards and they hit the ground again.

"Kim-chan," Yori said in shock. They, as in all three of them, did not kill, unless it was absolutely necessary. It did not seem essential at the moment.

"It's okay. They're not human. I think they're dolls," Kim informed her team as she returned her sword to the scabbard.

"Dolls?" Ron echoed. Who made dolls human size and armed them with deadly swords?

"Yeah, dolls. Look," Kim said and she lifted up the head of one of the guards. Her friends squinted to get a good look at the thing in the dark.

"Who would make dolls and have them attack us?" Ron wondered out loud while looking around, as if he expected the creator to step out of the shadows to claim his work.

"I don't know, but there's more on the way," Yori pointed out as she turned into the direction of the entrance that they were in front of. A throng of guards were working their way toward the ninjas.

"Oh, great," Ron muttered sarcastically.

"So much for the stink and flash bombs, huh?" Kim remarked as she drew her sword a third time.

"Why didn't we just go home?" the blonde young man whined.

"Come on, Ron-kun. It is our honor to help out Director-sama," Yori commented with a bit of a smile.

Ron looked skeptical to that statement as the guards attacked them. The clang sound that came from the group let Kim and her friends know that they were facing more dolls. The trio of friends countered with a fury, knocking the robots out with some forceful attacks since they did not have to worry about killing the machines.

"These things aren't so tough," Ron commented as they dropped the dozen or so dolls that had come at them. They marched into the belly of the beast, the inner parts of the castle.

"Should we split up and search for the Seniors and the blue one?" Yori asked.

"Let's stick together for the moment. We don't know how many of these tinker toys might be wandering around here," Kim replied.

Yori nodded to that one since it made sense. They did not want to run into a huge group of dolls and be solo. The machines might not have been too bad when they were together, but they could easily be overwhelmed alone. They walked through the castle and then were suddenly attacked by another group of female dolls.

"Okay, now this is getting a little too repetitive," Ron commented, sounding slightly aggravated, as he pulled his sword to block the blade of one of the dolls. He typically did not use his sword, the Lotus Blade, as a katana when fighting because his battle technique was actually better suited for using a staff. The good thing about the Lotus Blade was that it could be whatever he wanted, though.

"It is," Kim concurred and then Ron got kicked by one of the metallic puppets.

"Ouch, and painful," the blonde added because of the pain that coursed through him when the doll hit him. Not only was striking the machines like hitting a gong, but being hit by one was like being slapped with a gong. And then he noticed that more toys were coming to join the party. "Could this get any worse?" he wondered out loud.

One would think that Ron knew by now to never ask such a question considering the life that he led. Moments after he wondered how things could get any worse, his question was answered. A couple of the dolls were trying to hit Yori, but could not touch her with their hands or swords, so they went another way with things. The two toys' left hands flipped up, revealing hollowed out arms with small flames inside. Suddenly a powder shot through the limbs and were ignited by the small flames.

Yori actually yelped because of her surprise and she jumped out of the way, just missing having a fire ball shot in her face. Ron groaned when he noticed the fire. Well, he decided to scratch something else off of the list of things that he had never seen. Who would have thought of fire-shooting, sword-wielding dolls?

"This is probably going to get worse before it gets better," Kim commented.

The couple was in agreement with that. That thought did not stop the trio from fighting as hard as they could. They were going to finish the job that they had started.

* * *

Shego decided to go see what was going on with fighting while the Seniors and Drakken went to go hide since they were now aware of how dire the situation was. She wanted to see what it was that Drakken had unleashed with his large chahakobi-ningyou. Were those Bebe things as great as he swore they were? She was going to find out. All right, she silently admitted that she had a strange idea of entertainment.

It did not take long for her to figure out that something was wrong. She could smell smoke and it was getting warmer as she went through the castle. What was going on?

She got the answer to that question shortly after wondering it. She ran by a window and looked out to see the other side of the castle hall. She could see rather well what was going on because of lanterns, not to mention a fire happening in the hall. There were also some people fighting with Drakken's dolls.

She watched as the machines got flung around, even out of the room. She then saw that the toys were the ones starting the fires because they had flames coming from their wrists. As they were being thrown about the castle, the small fires from their hands turned into big fires as they hit things around the place.

"Oh, yeah, that's brilliant. Make unfeeling, non-thinking toys throw fire," Shego muttered sarcastically.

The green-skinned warrior ran off to go see if she could get a better idea of how big the fire was, only to find out that there was more than one fire. More than one group was engaged with those Bebe machines and the toys were using shooting flames at them, setting the whole castle ablaze.

"Screw it," Shego thought. She was just going to get out of there before the whole castle collapsed. With luck, she might even be able to take those three idiots she was with to safety.

The pale woman took off and ran right into the last group that she wanted or needed to see, Director Betty's group. She sucked her teeth and turned around to escape as quickly as she could. Betty noticed, but she was too busy trying to get a few Bebes from roasting her to go after the fleeing bodyguard.

"Damn, I hope that wasn't who I think it was," Betty muttered.

Shego was cursing to herself too. She needed to get out of the doomed castle, preferably with her three idiots. She ran toward an exit to the hall that she was in and was close to it, but was suddenly hit from the side. A body came flying through the wall and hit her. She and the body coughed as they hit the back wall and then they hit the floor.

"Son of a bitch," Shego groaned.

"Sorry about that," a familiar voice apologized and then the pair got a decent look at each other.

"Akako-chan?!" Shego gasped when she took note of the petite redhead lying next to her. What the hell was the little shamisen player doing in the castle during a siege?

"Yojimbo-san?" Kim asked in a puzzled tone. The bodyguard was the only person that called her that after all. Wait, did that mean that "yojimbo-san" was a woman?

What the hell was going on?!

* * *

1: Shimatta: damn

2: Chahakobi-ningyou: tea-serving dolls.

* * *

Next time: the fighting goes on, see who wins. Also Kim versus Shego.


	14. Follow the leader

I don't own these characters.

14: Follow the leader

Shego and Kim could not believe their eyes as they stared at each other. The pale woman wanted to know why she was running into someone that she knew as a maiko named Akako in Senior's castle as it was burning to the ground. The fire was thanks to Drakken's secret weapons, which actually turned out to be dolls that he hooked up to throw fire. Yeah, he was really a genius, Shego thought sarcastically.

Oppositely, Kim wanted to know why she was running to a woman that she was certain was "yojimbo-san." She could just tell that Shego was the bodyguard from body type. Not to mention, thanks to the fire illuminating the place, she could make out the green complexion and she was pretty sure that "yojimbo-san" was the only person alive with such a skin tone.

"Akako-chan, what the hell are you doing here?" Shego demanded to know, more concerned than angered oddly enough. She had been hoping that the girl was some place safe and yet there she was in a burning fortified structure.

"What are you doing here, yojimbo-san?" Kim countered; her tone was not as forceful as the other female's voice. She sounded somewhere between confused and disappointed, which was how she was feeling too.

"And why are you dressed like that?" Shego asked as she got a good look at the outfit the shamisen player was wearing. She then noticed the swords on the redhead's hip. The pale woman frowned. "You're with them, aren't you?" Shego growled.

"And if I am?" Kim said in a slightly offended tone. She had done so much to make sure that "yojimbo-san" had not been captured before when the traitors had been rounded up and yet there the bodyguard was with those fugitives again. It was like she had troubled herself for nothing. She was close to feeling like a fool for acting on the behalf of the bodyguard.

The pale woman snarled in pure fury, taking that question as a confirmation that the redhead was one of the Shogun's dogs. She was about to ignite her hands and tear into the teen with no mercy, but the fire around them blazed up higher than before. The ceiling began coming down and Shego figured that it was more important that she get out of the castle alive rather than punishing the petite redhead at the moment. She shoved Kim away from her with hateful force.

"We'll settle this some other time, Akako-chan," Shego said the name with much disdain and a frown tugged at her lips.

Kim fell back while Shego climbed to her feet. The green-skinned woman took off in the direction that Kim was facing. The redhead pushed herself up from the floor and was about to go after the departing villainess, but the ceiling collapsed. The olive-eyed female jumped back to avoid having burning debris fall on her head. Shego turned back around to see what happened as she heard all of the wreckage hit the floor; a part of her that she refused to acknowledge now that she knew what Kim was turned to make sure that the younger warrior had not been harmed. She saw that Kim's path was blocked and so, she made her escape, still thinking that she might be able to get to Drakken and the Seniors.

"Yojimbo-san!" Kim called almost at the top of her lungs to make sure that she was heard.

There was no response to her shout and she had to move back as the fire blazed higher around her. She shielded her face from the fire and then decided to get back to her friends as smoke began to fill the hall. They were going to have to get out of the castle soon or they were going to be trapped. She returned to the couple to see that they were still fighting with the mechanical dolls.

"Guys, we need to get out of here! The whole place is on fire," Kim informed her friends with urgency in her voice.

"What about the fugitives?" Yori asked while making sure to hold off any opponents that were near her.

"With luck, someone else found them because at the moment, we can't do anything about them. We need to get out of here," Kim stated firmly.

"Koibito, let's listen to Kim," Ron said because he noticed that the inferno was now pretty much out of control and the toys that they were trying to take down were not helping because they just kept adding to the fire. They were going to be stuck in the blazing castle if they continued on with the battle and search.

Ron grabbed his wife and decided to make a dash for the nearest exit. For him, survival always beat out finishing a mission, especially when his spouse was involved. Yori was similar being a ninja and all, but she usually believed in finishing the mission before making a hasty getaway. Kim was right behind her friends because she was certain that there was no way for them to finish the assignment with the heat wave that the fort was experiencing.

The tinker toys that they had been battling did not seem ready to leave the trio alone, though. The Bebes turned to follow the fleeing invaders and engaged them again. The friends turned around to fight just in time to avoid being cut in half by the dolls and their swords.

"Why must people think things like this up for evil?" Ron hollered as he tried to force a doll away from him with the Lotus Blade, which was back in the form of a katana. He ended up having to kick the metallic female in the chest to push the thing away.

"Because there's always some mad scientist out there that takes up insane things instead of doing something relaxing," Kim replied while throwing one doll over her shoulder into another doll.

"Like flower arrangement?" Ron wondered out loud.

"If we ever run into a villain that does flower arrangement, I might have to quit doing this," the redhead commented. She suspected that any bad guy that did flower arrangement too was probably uniquely insane and she just needed to stay away from such a bad news individual lest she lose her mind too.

Yori tried her best not to laugh at all because of the dire situation that they were in and forced herself to not imagine some insane assassin doing flower arrangements. Ron was not as good as his spouse and had to imagine some psycho doing flower arrangements. He started laughing slightly and then suddenly got attacked by another doll. He yelped and then started to defend himself against the machine. As they continued to try to fight off the dolls, they could tell the fire was spreading quickly and badly.

"We're going to be fried at this rate!" Ron pointed out the obvious while still keeping back the Bebes.

"Then we need to act like this is serious," Kim stated, which was also rather apparent.

"Using real moves on toys? We should be ashamed," Yori muttered.

"Yori-chan, I think it's our honor to live through this one in any way that we can, even if we didn't get the bad guys and they're just toys," the redhead commented.

The shinobi (1) agreed with that, but she was still a little insulted that they were going to have to use good attacks against mindless dolls. Kim could relate to that, but they had to get out of that fire and they had to do it quickly. So, it was not really the right time to be too proud to show up a doll.

Since they were breaking out their serious attacks, Ron put his sword away, kind of. He changed the Lotus Blade into the weapon that he worked best with, a bo-staff. He went to work right away on the dolls with his staff and using his tai shing pek wa as best he could. It would seem that he was on point; he always worked best in combat when under pressure.

Yori fell back on some mystical ninpo techniques that she could use. She lured a couple of dolls in and then vanished as they were about to attack. The dolls ended up hitting each other, which was what she counted on. She could not believe that she was using such techniques on toys, but she continued on, using whatever ninpo that she could coupled with any attacks that seemed to work.

Kim went to work too and gripped her sword tightly. She dashed at the dolls and cut through them, which her friends expected her to. The couple even recognized the sole attack that Kim continued to use since it was working well against their nonliving opponents.

"Hey, Kim, did you ever think that if you didn't call the slash attack the 'nine-tails of fury' that the rumors of you being a fox might ease up a bit?" Ron joked as he finished up the dolls around him. He did remain alert, just in case some more foes came out of nowhere.

"Let's just get out of here," Kim replied with a bit of an attitude as the machines dropped thanks to her and her friends' efforts. She had the attitude because she hated to even hear about those ridiculous rumors. She did silently agree with her best friend, though.

It was possible that maybe if so many of her sword techniques did not have anything to do with fox spirits then people would not consider her a fox. But, she could not help the names of the techniques. Her sword style went way back to the start of the Possible clan as far as she knew. She could not just go changing such things just to avoid the rumors going around about her. Besides, people would always talk no matter what.

The trio broke down the mechanical guards that were in their path and made a beeline for an exit. They made it to a part of the yard of the castle that was not on fire and fought with some more Bebes. It was then that they realized that they might have a problem on their hands. Would they be able to remember the proper way out with fire-crazed dolls nipping at their heels along with an out of control blaze chasing them in its own way too? They were about to find out.

"Do these things ever stop coming?!" Ron hollered in annoyance as he beat back a pair of Bebes while Yori and Kim were busy debating on which way they were supposed to go to get out of the castle.

"We took a right here," Kim argued, which meant they needed to go to the left to get out of the deadly castle.

"No, we didn't. We came from that way," Yori disagreed while pointing to their right.

"Could you two just pick a way and let's go!" the blonde young man begged.

Yori and Kim looked at each other and smiled. They nodded. "Up," they agreed.

They both grabbed Ron and leaped over the high wall that was in the way. Ron had to yell from the surprise; it was force of habit. Rufus was still in his sleeve and he cheered because it was a fun trip, even if it was unexpected. As soon as they landed, they all took off running. They jumped any other wall that they came to, including the last one that fortified the castle. They seemed to forget that there was a moat around the castle.

The trio hit the water with a huge splash. They sank rather deeply because of the equipment that they had on them, but they easily swam to the surface. They all gasped in some deep breaths of air as soon as they popped up from the deep, manmade pool.

"Again!" Rufus squeaked as he emerged from Ron's collar and he spit out some water.

"Why didn't we do that in the first place?" Ron inquired in a bit of a puzzled tone while making sure to keep his head above the water.

"Did you want to leap that many walls more than once?" Kim countered. They would not have had any strength left in their legs to do the job that they were supposed to if they had leaped those walls to get into the castle keep.

"Point taken," the blonde commented.

"Um…would it not be a good idea for us to get away from the wall with a fire going through that castle so easily?" Yori pointed out.

Kim and Ron nodded in agreement with that. They swam to the edge of the moat and pulled themselves out of the water onto the shore. They moved back from the castle and sat down to catch their breath. They watched the fire build up and wondered if the others made it out safely.

They got the answer to that question some minutes later. Everyone regrouped and Betty had in her possession the main fugitives as far as she was concerned, Senior, Junior, and Drakken; Shego had not been able to make it back to them, but they had been caught before that anyway. They were all bound and gagged because Betty was in no mood to hear anyone's mouth at the moment. It would seem that "yojimbo-san" got away, Kim noted since the green-skinned bodyguard was not among the captives.

"All right, everybody, let's head back to Edo!" Betty announced to the group. She had everyone that she needed since she had the escapees.

"Wait," Kim said. She was not certain why she was speaking up, but it seemed that her mouth had done so automatically. Was she about to say her words out of revenge or curiosity, she wondered because she knew just what she was about to bring up.

"Yes, Kim-dono?" the one-eyed woman inquired with a bit of a sigh. She did not want to hear anything at the moment. She just wanted to get back to the city and get back to her normal life. Not to mention, she still had to face Vivian's wrath. Maybe she should have stayed in the fire, she considered.

"There's still one more person to catch," the redhead informed the leader matter-of-factly. Did she want an excuse to go after "yojimbo-san" and even if she did, why, she asked herself. She could not figure it out, or so that was what she told herself. She did know that she wanted the chance to go after the green-skinned warrior.

Betty looked at Kim and wondered if the girl was talking about Shego. Had Kim seen Shego? She supposed that she was going to have to find out because if the redhead was talking about Shego, she was going to have figure out how to get Kim to understand that chasing Shego was pointless. No one alive, or even dead, would be able to capture Shego and bring her before the Shogun.

"One more person?" Betty asked as if she was very curious.

"Drakken's bodyguard," Kim informed the elder woman.

"Drakken's bodyguard?" Betty echoed. Was that what Shego was? Drakken's bodyguard? She probably could not have sunken any lower if she tried and she doubted that Shego would sink that low. Shego had way too much pride to be the servant of such a weed, she tried to convince herself.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll go after the bodyguard with your permission," Kim stated.

Yori looked at Kim curiously. She was not sure how to take the redhead's volunteering to hunt down "yojimbo-san." Did Kim just want to see him again or was she really going to go out of her way to turn in a friend and have that friend crucified for treason? Yori doubted that it was the latter and would bet her left leg that it was the former.

Kim was not even sure why she had just offered herself up to more work when she should have just been thinking about going home and reveling in that. What was she hoping to gain in going after "yojimbo-san," she silently asked herself several times. Did she want answers to the questions that she now had, like why the bodyguard did not just continue to enjoy her freedom rather than risking everything to be with people she claimed to dislike? There was of course the obvious question of the bodyguard being a woman in the first place.

"You'll go after the bodyguard?" Betty echoed in a calm tone, not letting it be known that she was milling the idea over. Could she let Kim go after Shego if that was who the teen was referring to? There was a lot of room for error, but then again, the redhead was not the type to make mistakes. It was also very unlikely that Kim would do something rash, but she could still do something that would not end well.

"I will," Kim confirmed with a confident, strong nod.

Betty considered the request quietly. It was very possible that Shego was not the bodyguard that Kim was talking about. She thought about it for a long moment. She looked at Drakken and thought some more. There was no way that Shego would be out with such a loser, she told herself. The bodyguard had to be someone else other than Shego in the one-eyed woman's opinion because she was certain that it just was not in the pale woman's nature to remain with someone like Drakken. She did wonder what Shego was doing at the castle, though.

It was not uncommon for Shego to be involved in some sort of plot to overthrow the government. She bounced around, moving in all kinds of nefarious circles doing who-knew-what in the underground, and surfaced every now and then for some big scheme that always fell through; sometimes before it even got started. She never seemed to care and just disappeared back into the shadows, waiting for something new to catch her attention. But, she never made an appearance as a servant for someone. If anything, Shego was a co-conspirator in plots that she was involved, even if a lot of the time, she only seemed to be involved halfheartedly. With that in mind, Betty figured that Kim was speaking on someone else and she made her decision on that knowledge.

"Get going," Betty ordered the redhead in an almost uncaring tone.

Kim nodded, but before she did get going, she threw on her other clothes since those were dry. She then turned to her friends and bid them farewell. She noticed the look that Yori was giving her, as if demanding that she explain herself, but she could not. She did not even know what she was doing, after all. She did like to think that she was not going for the same reasons that Yori assumed that she was going, especially since she now knew more about "yojimbo-san" than the ninja did.

"Take care," Ron said to the olive-eyed samurai in a strong voice, one that said he was confident in her abilities. "When you get back to Edo, we'll hang out," he added just to let her know that they were getting back to their normal lives for a little while once she returned home. No more favors for Director Betty for a while.

"Be careful," Yori said to Kim, trying her best to mask her concern for the redhead.

Kim smirked to show her confidence. "I'll be fine."

Yori shrugged slightly; she was not too sure about that. She was kind of worried. It was not that she thought something bad would happen to Kim, but she just wished that she knew what Kim was trying to do. It probably would help matters if the redhead knew just what she was attempting to do.

* * *

Shego made her getaway from the castle and through some trees while trying not to think about how she had left the others behind, not that she had much of a choice with the stronghold burning down. She was not too surprised by what happened in the castle, as far as Drakken's machines went anyway. His plans seemed to sound good in his head, half the time they looked somewhat good on paper, and then when they were put into practice something always happened to screw it up. It was one of the things that made him amusing and she probably would have tried harder to rescue him if it was not for one person.

Look, Drakken was a screw-up, but he was her screw-up. Yes, he did annoying things, but something that was annoying could also be amusing after she had a chance to sit down and think about it. Maybe she would have considered the stupid move with fire-shooting dolls amusing days from now because of how unbelievably dense it was for the man to make toys that threw fire, but did not have judgment to know when and where to use it. Obviously, he did not think that far ahead. Despite his shortsightedness, she still would have gone back for him and maybe even tried to wrestle him from Director Betty, but she just did not want to see that one person.

So, Akako-chan had actually been a spy, Shego silently growled. She could not believe that she of all people had allowed a spy to get to her! And there it was she thought that she had made a friend. Stupid, she berated herself.

She could not believe that she fell for that act! She thought that Akako was just some cute, little shamisen player. She thought that the girl was trapped in that gilded cage, longing for freedom, but she did not have the courage to pursue it. It had all just been a lie, though! The girl had lied to her.

Something underneath the fury made Shego even angrier and that was the pain that she was experiencing. She tried her best to ignore the underlying agony of being betrayed by someone she thought was her friend. She tried to tell herself that she did not care. Well, no, she cared enough to be upset, but not enough to be hurt. She would get her revenge on that lying, little bitch. She was just not going to let anyone make a fool out of her.

She thought about how happy she had been when she thought that Akako had left the teahouse to be free, but it turned out that she just left because she had not truly been a prisoner. She just used that, Shego growled mentally. She had been played by a kid. It was unforgivable!

Shego figured that she would escape for a while, but she was going to eventually go look for that evil, little redheaded tramp. She was not going to let Akako get away with toying with her. She would get that kid back and teach that the damned whore to never fool around with her again, not that the lesson would stick long considering how pissed she was. She might just have to slay that little bitch and be done with her.

* * *

Kim took off on the bodyguard's trail. She left behind her horse because she thought it would be easier to track the green-skinned woman on foot. So, she was off to wear down her zori sandals. She doubted that "yojimbo-san" had gotten far and even if she did, Kim was confident that she would catch up to the bodyguard soon enough.

But, she asked herself, what would she do if she did catch up with the pale woman? Would she just sit down and try to talk about things, like why the green-skinned female returned to Drakken? Would she just fight with the bodyguard and take her back to Edo where she would be crucified for treason? She was not sure. She considered that she would know what she was going to do when she caught up with the bodyguard. Well, she hoped that she would know when she caught up to the bodyguard because she disliked feeling confused and torn on an issue.

She felt a little stupid for having gone out of her way for the bodyguard since "yojimbo-san" had gone right back to those traitorous idiots. And she was ready to believe that "yojimbo-san" might actually be a bit stupid to have returned to such losers. They had already been captured once. Did the green-skinned woman really think that they would get away a second time? But, she supposed that also applied to her.

She had assumed that the bodyguard would not go back to her master. Why had she thought that, she asked herself. Maybe she was just wishing much too hard and she could not even figure out why she had wished such a thing. What had she been thinking? Where was her head that day?

She wanted to be upset with herself and with the bodyguard for not doing what she should have, but she could not manage that. She was just curious as to what went wrong. Why had the bodyguard thrown away a chance to be free to stick with traitors? It did not make any sense to Kim, no matter how much time she devoted to contemplating the matter. She needed an explanation from the person that just threw away her hard work.

It seemed almost ungrateful, in Kim's opinion. She had given "yojimbo-san" a gift that the bodyguard claimed to want, but it was not cherished. A part of her soul felt injured from that and she desired answers as to why the present was not loved and cared for. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she required those answers.

She continued to tell herself that it would not take too long to catch up to the bodyguard, even though days passed and she did not catch up to the pale woman. Had she underestimated the bodyguard? How had "yojimbo-sand" gotten so far so fast? She decided that hers was not to question. Hers was just to locate.

--(New day)

Shego was lounging underneath a tree. She had a new travel hat and had it pulled over her face. She had a long piece of grass in her mouth. She was obviously just relaxing. She was considering what she should do now. She could keep running for a while, she could go back to Edo for her revenge, or she could just go look for a new clown considering Drakken was more than likely dead on a cross by now. She then figured that she was going to have to let those thoughts go for the moment because she could tell that she was about to have some company.

"Yojimbo-san," Kim said as she stood before the pale woman.

Shego looked up and smirked. It would seem her question had been answered and that the gods were smiling upon her because she did not even have to go anywhere for the answer. She was going to have to go for revenge with the bitchy redhead right in front of her.

"Akako-chan," Shego said the pet name with such venom that it might as well had been an insult.

Kim was lost now, especially since she could sense that "yojimbo-san" was far from pleased to see her yet again. What was she supposed to do? Did she want to take the bodyguard in? Did she want to just talk? She was not sure and nothing was coming to mind. She could hardly remember the questions that she wanted to ask, but out of everything, there was still a dull ache underneath the surface about the fact that the bodyguard had thrown away the effort that she had taken to let the pale woman keep her desired, beloved freedom.

"It's good that you came to me," Shego commented with a smirk tugging at her lip.

"How so?" Kim asked curiously. Maybe the bodyguard wanted to talk and they could clear everything up. Then, maybe, she would be able to figure out just what she should do with the bodyguard.

"It just means I don't have to go back to Edo to kill you," the moss-hued warrior replied as if that was the logical answer and she climbed to her feet.

"Kill me?" Kim repeated in a tone that showed she did not understand.

"Yup," Shego said and she put her hand on a sword that she had on her hip. It was not quite a katana that she carried, but it did the job more often than not. Her blade was a ninjato(2). She was not even going to bother to take her hat off for the fight apparently.

"Wait, yojimbo-san, you don't really want to do that," the younger female objected. She honestly did not think that anyone wanted to get into a sword fight with her if it could be helped.

"Yeah, I do," the pale woman replied with conviction.

The redhead samurai was not sure what to do and then Shego came at her, so she did not really have time to think about what was happening. She leaped back, avoiding getting cut in two. Shego laughed a little bit; the kid had some sharp reflexes.

"Fine, you want to do it like this, then I'm just going to have to take you down and take you back to Edo," Kim declared as she put her hand on her long sword's handle. It would seem that everything between them, whatever it was, had been ruined the moment that she literally slammed into the bodyguard back at the castle.

Shego scoffed. "You think you're so big and bad because you work for the Shogun. If you think you can take me on, come on. Hell, if you beat me, I'll go back to Edo voluntarily with you and turn myself in," the pale woman boasted.

"Then I guess you'll be going back voluntarily and turning yourself in," the redhead stated.

"Bring it on now then, A-ka-ko-chan," Shego replied, saying the name slowly and pronouncing each syllable to further taunt the younger female.

"It's Kim. Possible Kim," she introduced herself with pride.

"I'll be sure to carve it on your grave," Shego remarked in a dangerous tone while deciding to untie her hat for the battle.

Kim did not respond to that and Shego charged her; the pale woman's hat flying off behind her. They clashed swords, which surprised Shego. The raven-haired female thought that she would be easily to run the olive-eyed spy through. She was aware that Kim would have some skill being a dog for the Shogun, but she did not think that Kim would be any match for her.

Shego went into another strike, but Kim blocked that also. The emerald-eyed fighter was fast, Kim noted. Faster than any other opponent that the girl had faced or could even think of. That was all right, though. She was fast too and she never lost.

Kim went on the attack as soon as she had the chance, which stunned Shego, but the pale woman managed to avoid the strike. Kim could not believe her eyes; someone had just dodged her? That almost never happened.

Fine, Kim said to herself. She just started another attack, but again Shego dodged. The pale woman then countered, but Kim moved out of the way. They clashed swords again and again. Both surprised by the way the battle was going, or how it was not going considering it was not going in either of their favor.

"This kid is pretty good," Shego thought to herself. In the back of her mind, she noted that it was nice to go against someone that did not crumble five seconds into a fight.

Kim was of similar thinking. She was unaccustomed to fighting against someone for more than a minute or so, especially in one-on-one combat. She had always thought that the Possible sword techniques were the most powerful of any form, but Shego was countering her and avoiding her like it was something that she did everyday. It was impressive.

The two continued fighting against each other and then they suddenly locked weapons. They pushed away, both flinging the other's sword away. They gawked at each other for a moment in disbelief and then they looked at their weapons, which were point down in the ground as if the earth were their scabbards. They turned their attention back to each other and then Shego smirked.

"Well, samurai-san, you seem to be out of luck," Shego commented in a cocky tone. She used "samurai-san" because she did not even want to think of the damnable redhead as the Akako that she knew and had come to like.

"How so, yojimbo-san?" Kim inquired rather curiously.

"I'm better without a sword," the pale woman remarked and she put her hands up in a fighting position, as if her hands were claws instead of making fists.

"Isn't that coincidence? So am I," Kim riposted with confidence as she put her hands up, balling them into tight fists.

Shego decided to call Kim's bluff and dashed at her. The moss-hued warrior leaped into her attack, coming at Kim with a powerful claw strike. Shego had nails that were close to an eagle's talons and she had come very close to tearing into Kim's throat with them on that first assault, but Kim dodged.

The redhead went to counterattack with some well placed punches, which Shego dodged. Kim kept coming with hers until the green-skinned woman countered and tried to cut her face off. Kim leaped back and then had to avoid a swarm of shuriken being thrown by Shego at an incredible speed. The younger warrior sought refugee behind a tree and breathed a sigh of relief as she heard a bunch of projectiles getting pinned into the wood.

"That isn't going to work," Shego practically cooed as she seemed to manifest in front of the younger female.

Kim jumped into the tree to avoid being peppered by four-pointed throwing stars. Shego followed her into the tree and kicked her out of it before Kim had a chance to totally settle onto a branch. The samurai righted herself in the air and landed on her feet. She immediately had to flip away from her landing space as more shuriken rained down on her. How many of those things did the bodyguard have?!

"Quick little thing," Shego muttered.

Kim stood up right when the assault ended. She put her hands up to be on guard for when Shego came at her again. She looked around and did not see any sign of the emerald-eyed bodyguard. She knew that the older woman was around somewhere, though.

"Peek-a-boo," Shego remarked and she was about to kick Kim hard in the ribs from the back right, but the redhead surprisingly blocked.

"I see you," Kim replied as she countered and kicked Shego right in the chest.

The green-skinned woman coughed as the blow landed and she flew back. She was able to catch herself and threw her hands up to defend herself properly as Kim came in for a second attack. The raven-haired fighter could not believe how fast the little redhead was. Her hands were almost a blur and Shego knew that if she was just a little less of a warrior than she was, Kim would have destroyed her easily. It was rather extraordinary.

Kim would have concurred with that thought. She could not believe that someone was keeping up with her hands and blocking her attacks. It was not something that happened often and it certainly did not happen for a long time, over a minute was a long time. It was something that amazed her.

They were both in a sort of shock. The shock was not so severe that they were no longer battling. No, they continued with that as fiercely as they could. They did not care about how incredible things seemed. They were out for theirs. They wanted things and they would have them, even if it was at the cost of the other, even though they had both felt such a connection before. Nothing mattered aside for winning.

* * *

1: shinobi: a ninja.

2: ninjato: ninja sword. It's not as long as a katana, but it's longer than a wakazashi (the short sword samurai carry). It's also a straighter blade and usually held straight ahead so that the opponent cannot tell its exact length.

* * *

Next time: the fight goes on.


	15. Sheer force of will

I don't own these characters.

15: Sheer force of will

Kim and Shego ran at each other and met in a flurry of fists. Their vicious fists slammed against each others' cheeks with unimaginable force, bruising their faces, but that did not stop them. They continued on fighting, disbelieving the battle that they were engaged in, but slowly growing to love it.

They were both unaccustomed to fighting for so long. They usually ran through opponents, no matter how many there were. Battles usually only lasted a minute or so, but as far as they knew that had been going at each other for about a half hour. Time would not have mattered if they at least knew each other as warriors or respected each other as warriors when the combat began, but that had not been the case. They had not entered the battle with a mutual respect for each other as fighters.

Shego could hardly believe what was happening. She might have been impressed if she was not so upset and desiring so much to destroy the girl before her. She was so furious with Kim and with herself. The redhead had lied to her and she had fallen for it; she was not sure which one upset her more.

She had stupidly assumed that she had gone out and made a friend of some kind. She had even been nice to the girl, taking her outside when she was stuck in the teahouse, even taking the redhead to her own secret, special spot. She had shared her most private space with the teen and discussed the stars with her, opening up slightly, but more so than she ever had with someone in recent years.

She had even felt sorry for the kid. She thought that the teen was a prisoner, trapped in a gilded cage and too frightened to fly away. But, it was not even like that. Her emotions had been wasted on a lie! Her emotions had been brought out because of a damned liar. It was unacceptable and infuriating and she just waited to wrap her hands around that light, slender neck of her opponent and snap it! Unfortunately, her opponent did not seem for that idea and kept avoiding her attacks.

The worst part was that she had worried about Kim, even though she did not acknowledge that was the worst part. She had even wanted to help the olive-eyed kid, though on a conscious level she was not sure why that was. She just figured that it was because she had grown to like the girl, maybe like one would like a stray puppy, she considered. There was something about the redhead that she had connected with in a way that made her care about the redhead, even if she did not want to acknowledge or admit to it. She had thought that the girl was in a bad position in life and she had wanted to change that because of the connection that she felt, but it turned out that the girl was just a spy.

It was because of that connection that she was feeling so angry, hurt, and betrayed. She thought that it was something that they shared, but finding out that the teen was a spy and probably just acting back then made it all seem like a lie. It was as if her mind and heart had been toyed with. She had been played with by a kid and she just did not appreciate it. It did not help that she had been played by a kid that she had liked, that she had meaningful conversations with, that she had shared laughs with, that she had felt so comfortable with.

Kim was trying to focus on solely on the fight, but there were some emotions going on inside of her. Mostly, she was confused. She could not believe that the bodyguard was a woman, first of all. That should have changed the way Kim thought of her, at least that was what the redhead believed. But, it did not change a thing.

When she looked at her opponent, she still saw "yojimbo-san." She saw a person that had been so kind to her and someone that she believed that she understood. She saw the person that she felt at peace when being around, even if she was doing things like serving the bodyguard drinks or playing the dreaded shamisen for. She still felt the same now as she had then.

She wished that "yojimbo-san" would talk things out with her, but every time she opened her mouth to say something, the bodyguard would up her effort ten-fold. It was like the sound of her voice angered the green-skinned warrior beyond reasoning. It would seem that "yojimbo-san" honestly wanted her to die on the battlefield. Well, she was not going to oblige. She was going to win the battle and attempt to set things straight after that. She would not be able to live with herself if her relationship with "yojimbo-san" ended so sourly with the bodyguard wishing a painful death upon her.

They continued to go at each other, neither showing signs of weakness, even though they were pushing their bodies to new limits against another person. They were both shocked by the level of martial arts that the other knew. It seemed like no matter what they did, the other had a way to counter the moves, which was one of the things dragging the battle out. They were not about to give up, though.

"I'm not losing this," Shego told herself as she and Kim backed away for a moment to catch their breath and rethink some attacks. She could not believe the strength of the teen and that was muscling in on her anger, but her fury would not give way. She was still vexed the teen and she still wanted to do away with her.

"Why am I doing this?" Kim asked herself. What would happen once she did win, she asked herself. Would "yojimbo-san" actually hear her out if she defeated the moss-hued warrior? She was not even sure what she wanted to say if that was the case. So, really, why was she doing it, she silently asked again.

"Samurai-san, this is the end of this fight," Shego informed Kim. She was done playing around with the teen, she told herself. She had to think of it as "playing" for the sake of her pride since someone who could not be much older than her youngest brothers was seriously keeping up with her and working her over to a certain extent.

"What makes you say that?" the redhead inquired.

"Because you're tired and I can do this." Shego flared her hands.

Kim could not believe her eyes. Was the bodyguard some kind of demon or spirit? No matter, she told herself. She had yet to meet anyone, be they human, demon, or otherwise that could best her in a fight. She was not going to run from a little fire, especially if it stood in the way of her clearing the air with the bodyguard. They could not part on bad terms, she told herself. She was doing it, chasing "yojimbo-san" and fighting with "yojimbo-san" because they could not part as enemies. She would stay standing and she would win because she wanted to save some part of that connection they had.

"I'll give you a sporting chance, if you run away right now, I'll let you have a ten second head start," Shego said in an even tone.

The pale woman was actually mocking her opponent. It would please her if the redheaded warrior did run. It would make it all the more fun when she finally caught the girl and destroyed her for deceiving her. She wanted Kim to feel every drop of agony that she was feeling, yet denying. She would punish the little redhead for making her feel so utterly betrayed and completely used.

But, Kim did not run. She stood her ground because she never ran from anyone in her life and she was not about to start now. Besides, she had other reasons for standing her ground, which included wanting to save them, their connection. Shego frowned since her opponent was not sprinting away. She started counting out loud backwards from ten, hoping to show Kim that she meant business and to frighten the girl into fleeing. Kim did not even flinch.

Part of Shego dared to consider that she wanted the girl to run, so she would have an excuse to let her get away. It was a part of her that she was ignoring because she wanted so badly to completely detest the redhead. But that part, small as it may be, wanted Kim to get away, wanted to let the person that she connected so deeply with to live. Feeling that tiny part inside of her only enraged the pale woman all the more. How could she still positively consider someone who had done such things to her?

"Fine, have it your way!" Shego snarled and she launched herself at Kim.

The petite warrior dodged some rather forceful, flaming slash moves. She could tell in the attacks themselves that Shego was beyond livid with her. She wished that was not the case, but it was. She just made sure to keep avoiding the strikes because it was clear that Shego would not mind killing her from the way that she was coming at the redhead.

Shego could not believe that she could not hit the girl and that just upset her more. She hated Kim so much right now. She loathed that she was so emotionally injured by what happened and she just wanted to forget that any of her time with the teen even happened. She wanted to just take the kid down and never think about her ever again. She wanted to forget that she dared to become someone's friend or to think of someone as her friend.

People were supposed to just be clowns to her, Shego told herself. Drakken was a clown to her and that was why she stuck with him. That was how it was supposed to be and that was how people were supposed to be to her if she did stick around them. She had stuck around "Akako" and she had actually felt something for the brat that she never bothered to identify. She had not thought that it needed a name as long as she could continue spending time with "Akako." She had not even really noticed the "something" when she was around "Akako." She just knew that she always felt relaxed and just all around good when she was in the redhead's company. It was almost like there was nothing to worry about or nothing truly wrong in the world when she was with "Akako."

She felt so stupid now for even liking the damnable teenager and she just wanted to make the kid go away. She could then pretend that it never happened, that she never held emotions toward someone before. Kim was dead set against allowing that to be reality. She would not be forgotten, their connection would not be slain out of existence as long as she continued to breathe. It never entered her conscious mind, but whatever she had with the bodyguard was quite precious to her, enough for her to stare death in the emerald eye and stave off the force with her own powerful will.

Shego snarled like an angry beast as she went at Kim again with another attack. The redhead decided that she better just counter at some point in time if she did not want to die. So, after her next dodge, she went into attack mode.

The pale woman was shocked when Kim's fist came at her and she almost did not get out of the way in time because of her surprise. She had to get over her surprise very quickly because the redhead caught coming. Shego threw up her hands to block a punch, only to be hit with a kick. She growled, infuriated from being hit.

The raven-haired fighter countered and lashed out at Kim with her glowing claws. The redhead jumped back and put her hands up to block, forgetting that she was not in a regular fight. She was cut across her arms with claws and plasma. She hissed in pain and her body reacted of its own accord. Shego was coming in for another hit and Kim kicked out automatically with all of her might to keep her opponent back.

The blow landed and Shego fell back, feeling like she had been hit with a tree truck. Kim decided to keep going and she came in with a fury of kicks since her arms were now injured with scratches and burns. Shego was dazed by the time the kicks stopped and she was bleeding from her nose and lip.

The older female did not let her slight injures stop her and went back at Kim. The redhead blocked again when it was necessary, like when she was not able to totally avoid the strikes against her. But, she made sure to become offensive as soon as she had the chance. She made her main attacks with kicks, but came in with hand strikes too to throw her opponent off.

Shego quickly got over her shock when the hand attacks came, but it had taken a toll on her by the time she did. At least she knew that she was giving as good as she was getting, but she wanted that bitch of a redhead to go down by her hands. She did know that she was going to have to do something drastic, so she could still get away and achieve her goal of slaying the tramp against her. Yeah, through all of her fury and hatred, she had not forgotten that she needed to get away.

The green-skinned woman waited for an opening and was planning to fall back on her ninjutsu to hit a pressure point on her opponent. She was going to go for the throat. She was aware that if she did the move just right, she would kill Kim. And when her moment came, she took it. Only problem was that she missed.

Kim dodged the move just in time, dipping underneath Shego's in coming hand. The next thing went in slow motion for Shego. Kim came in for as many torso hits with her fists as she could get. In fact, when she started, she did not stop. Shego took a wild, flaming swing, trying to get Kim away from her.

The redhead did back away, but she just came back right in with powerful kick moves. Shego blocked and went to attack again. Kim pushed Shego's hand away to throw off her attack and came it with a killer kick, letting loose a battle cry as she did so. She caught Shego right across the head and sent the older woman to the ground.

Shego could not believe the force that she was hit with and also could not believe that she could not get up. She was exhausted and after a few seconds, she was unconscious. The redheaded samurai dropped to her knees, sucking in air as if she had just been drowning. She had never had such a draining battle in all her short life.

A thunder clap then echoed through the woods. Kim sucked her teeth as she raised her head to look at the sky. There were thick grey clouds gathering and she knew that it was going to rain. Great, she thought sarcastically.

As soon as Kim got sarcastic in her own mind, another thunder clap sounded and she could see lightning in the distance. She forced herself to her feet and staggered over to Shego. She struggled to lift the heavier woman up and then she dragged the unconscious woman along, seeking out some place to settle down before the downpour that was sure to come was on them.

* * *

Shego regained conscious and the first thing that she noticed was that her clothing was wet. She wondered why that was and then she noticed that she was in a cave. She looked at the opening of the cavern, which was a couple of yards away and saw why she was probably in the cave, not to mention why her clothes were wet. But now, it begged the question of how she got in the cave and out of the rain?

She looked around and got her answer. Lying opposite her, a few feet away, was Kim. The redhead was unconscious and she was shivering in her sleep. Shego just left her there for the moment, telling herself that she did not care about the lying, traitorous teen. She could not and would not attack; she was too worn out from the earlier fight and she would never attack an opponent that was not conscious. Telling herself that she did not care about the obviously freezing samurai only happened for a moment, though.

Shego could not take her eyes off of the olive-eyed warrior and eventually moved over to her. She lifted the girl into her arms and held onto her to warm her up. She figured it was the least that she could do since Kim had not left her out in the rain. Maybe the girl was not completely wicked, she considered. But, her actions did not mean anything beyond her repaying a favor, she told herself, as if she needed to justify her movements to her own mind.

She looked down at the knocked-out redhead. The petite warrior was starting to show bruises from their battle. Her injures on her arms, the scratch marks from Shego's claws, were no longer bleeding, but they were not scabbing over yet. There were also a few burn marks because of her plasma and as she looked at them, she realized that she had been holding back on the deadly energy, even though Kim had been avoiding her hits. If she had really been going after Kim, she would have been able to cut through the girl's limbs with her plasma working at full force. Maybe she did not want the teen dead, she thought since she had subconsciously held back her full power.

Her emerald eyes fell onto the samurai's hands. She looked at those small, slender hands. Those were the hands that pulled her out of chilling rain. Those were the hands that had taken her on and bested her. Those were the hands that beat her and proved her declaration foolish. Those were the hands that were going to make her go back to Edo and to face the Shogun.

She could not believe that she had been beaten by such a young warrior. Looking at her, Kim seemed so unassuming, which she guessed made the kid the perfect spy. But, having a closer look, she could see the training marks on the girl. She had never bothered to look too much at the redhead before, just preferring to sit there, talk with her, and listen to her play the shamisen. Besides, she had been hidden underneath the elaborate formal kimono and makeup of a maiko.

She shook her head. She could have adored the kid so much, she considered. She had enjoyed being around her so much when she thought that Kim was just a harmless maiko, so much so that she would have probably tried to give the teen anything that she wanted. But now, she just detested feeling so close to the girl and liking her. She loathed whatever it was inside of her that connected her with the maiko and made her want to be around the redhead. She despised whatever it was that made her wish that she could just take Kim away from it all and keep her all to herself and nothing in the world would ever matter. She just detested Kim and how she had ruined the good feeling that she had once brought Shego.

Added to the fact that the girl turned out to be a spy, there was the fact that she had beaten Shego in a fight that bothered the green-skinned female quite a bit. The pale woman always considered herself the ultimate warrior. She knew several forms of martial arts and she had her special powers; her plasma, her claws, strength beyond that of any normal person. She thought that no matter what she would have been able to take on anyone and destroy that person if the whim overcame her, but then came Kim.

As Shego stared at the petite redhead, it was almost laughable that she had been defeated by the girl, she thought. She was close to being amused by the circumstances that she was faced with, the irony of it all. How she, the ultimate warrior, had fallen to a slender little girl. But, she was still so angry with everything that happened that she just could not find it in herself to be amused by what happened. She had been defeated by someone that she wished would just die and stop haunting her (and hurting her) with her existence.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kim started showing signs of regaining consciousness. She watched with an interested expression as the redhead yawned and opened her eyes. For some reason that neither of them knew, Kim smiled when she locked eyes with Shego, as if she had forgotten all of the bad blood that was between them like a raging river. They were still and quiet for a brief second and then Shego practically tossed Kim out of her lap.

"Ow, what was that for?" the young samurai asked as she hit the ground. She banged her forehead on a rock and split her eyebrow open.

Shego felt a ping of guilt course through her when she saw the wound that was on Kim's head. The younger warrior did not seem to mind it much and just used her sleeve to wipe away any blood that was trying to make its way into her eye. Kim sat up and faced Shego, who turned her head away. The gesture caused the redhead to frown slightly because she knew that the bodyguard was still angry with her.

Kim supposed that it was a good sign that the bodyguard had not run away or killed her since she had passed out and the pale woman had woken before she did. She had not meant to lose consciousness when she found the cave, but some things could not be helped. She had gone beyond her limit by holding up Shego's unconscious form when looking for shelter from the rain and her body simply gave out once she got them both into the semi-dry space.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Shego replied. Great, now she was pissed because she felt guilty for injuring the redhead again. She tried to remind herself that she hated the girl anyway, so it should not matter, but some part of her still seemed to think that Kim was "Akako-chan," she realized. Some part of her still wanted to connect to the redhead and even though she was trying to ignore that part of her, it was clear that it had some kind of control over her.

"Yojimbo-san…are you mad at me?" Kim asked curiously. A piece of her was hurt because the answer to that was so obvious; the bodyguard had been talking about slaying her earlier, after all. She did not want the bodyguard to be upset with her. She wanted them to be as they were before, if that was possible. She at least wanted them to be able to get along as civilized beings.

"Gee, what makes you say that?" Shego huffed, making sure not to make eye contact with the other warrior.

Kim did not respond to that at first. She pushed herself up against the wall that was opposite Shego, which made her positioned where she had left Shego when they first came into the cave. She folded her legs underneath her and glanced outside the cavern opening.

It was raining much harder than it had been when it first started. She supposed that she lucked out when she came across the cave because as far as she knew there was not a settlement around for a while. It had taken a lot of effort to carry Shego since she had been dead weight thanks to her unconscious state. As soon as she had put Shego down in the cave, she passed out without even thinking that she might never wake up, either due to her own exhaustion or Shego possibly fulfilling her dark desire. She just could not do any more than she had already done.

"Yojimbo-san…Okay, I know you're mad at me. I mean, if that got anymore obvious, I'd have your sword stuck in my torso somewhere. Oh, speaking of your sword, I've got it for you," Kim said and she pulled the weapon from her obi. She held the weapon out for the pale woman.

Shego first pretended that she was not interested in the weapon. She then glanced at the sword and left it floating in limbo for a few more seconds. And then she snatched the weapon without a word. She made sure not to look at Kim and not to think anything of the gesture of how the teen not only carried her out of the rain, but also retrieved her weapon. The kid seemed so thoughtful, but she was actually just an inu (1) and she did not think that it was fair that growing parts of her was trying to only consider that Kim was actually kind. It was just an act, she reminded herself. It was an act by a trained dog of the Shogunate.

"Yeah, didn't expect a thanks," Kim muttered. "I know you think I'm just a rotten spy for the Shogun, but believe it or not, I'm not a spy and I didn't want to do that job. I sort of volunteered for it before I knew what I was supposed to be doing," she explained, hoping that it would at least get the bodyguard to look at her. She was going to tell the truth with the hope that it mended their broken bonds and kept them linked in some form.

"Yeah, I believe that," Shego remarked sarcastically.

"I was sincere in my time with you," Kim admitted in a low voice. It was slightly embarrassing to confess, but she felt that it needed to be said. She needed it known that she was not totally lying and she was not completely acting.

The redhead had enjoyed her time with Shego, even though they both seemed to be lying to each other in some form. The only thing was that Kim knew to some extent that Shego was misrepresenting herself. She had not known that Shego was a woman, but that did not come close to her being a spy for the Shogun and trying to get information from someone that saw her as a friend. Other than that though, they seemed to be being themselves with each other, honest and open, bare to each other in ways that they never were with other people. At least, Kim knew that was true for her, but she could feel that it was true for the moss-hued fighter also.

"Keep lying," Shego replied in a snippy tone. She did not want to hear anything from the little liar, especially since that rebellious part in her dared to believe the words that it was hearing. She would not be fooled a second time, she promised herself.

"I was," the olive-eyed samurai insisted in earnest.

"You know, you don't have to talk to me anymore. I already agree to go back with you, so you can shut up now," the pale woman said.

Shego did not want to hear anything from the little brat. She was a liar and more venomous than any snake that Shego had come across. She had no reason to believe anything that came out of the girl's mouth now and she had no reason to believe that Kim had been sincere in the past. She was going to go back to Edo as promised, so she thought that should shut the little Shogunate hound up.

"I wasn't looking to hurt you or make a fool out of you or anything like that," Kim continued on.

"Well, good work since that didn't happen," Shego replied, still not looking at the redhead.

Kim sighed, sounding close to defeated, but she certainly was not going to give up, not when she had the chance to clear everything up. She wished that the conversation was going a little better. She wished that the bodyguard did not see it as all her fault too. Everything that happened was something beyond them and they were both wheels in a cog. They added to the problem, but she was not the cause of the problem.

"You know, I'm not the only in this cave that did something wrong," Kim pointed out because of her frustration.

"What are you trying to say, dog of the Shogun?" Shego inquired with some anger in her voice because she would be damned if she was going to sit there and let some bitch of the Shogun judge her.

"First of all, I'm not a dog of the Shogun," the redhead declared quite proudly. She had never done a mission just because the Shogun ordered it and she never would. She needed reasons to make her move, good reasons, not just because the Shogun wanted it done.

"Right, you just volunteered for the job before you knew what you were going to do. You're telling me that you wouldn't have done it if you were told to do point blank?" Shego asked in a skeptical tone. She felt that the redhead was lucky that they had already had their determining battle and she had made that stupid promise to go back to Edo with the teen because if she had not done that, she would have rushed to the other side of the cave to behead the lying tramp. Well, she would have tried anyway, but with the way that her body was feeling, she probably would not have been able to do such a feat.

"I wouldn't have," Kim proclaimed firmly, as if that was the stone cold truth and nothing would be able to break it. "Can you say the same thing about what you were doing?" she countered.

Shego was silently for a couple of seconds. She was not even looking at Kim, but she could tell from the girl's strong voice that she was telling the truth. Kim would not have been a spy if she knew what she was being recruited for. The pale woman chuckled a little; Kim was not sure how she should take the sound.

"No, I can't say the same thing. I went along with idiots with my eyes wide open. I enjoyed it," Shego replied.

She remembered how Kim was being a maiko. It was clear that she had not enjoyed it. Shego had assumed it was because the redhead was being forced into the lifestyle and she was partially correct. She knew that Kim did not want to be where she was when she was acting as a spy. She just had not been sure why, but now, she figured that she knew the reason, or at least one of the reasons.

"You might be mad at me, but you have to remember that I could be mad at you too," Kim commented.

Shego scoffed and rolled her eyes as she spoke. "I don't care." It was a lie.

The slim samurai could tell that she was not getting the truth from the bodyguard. Shego just wanted to be standoffish. They had a connection back when they were both playing roles and Kim knew that she did not want that connection to break. Somewhere deep inside of Shego, a part she was trying her best to ignore, also did not want the connection to go away and it was almost like Kim could see that part as she started her next few sentences.

"I really was sincere in my time with you and I appreciated your company. I know you were sincere too, which is why I don't hold any of this against you. I liked being around you. I still like being around you," the redhead admitted.

"Yeah, because this cave is just a great place to be," the pale woman replied.

Kim sighed. She supposed that she was going to have to dig deep if she wanted to get the bodyguard to not only stop being mad at her, but to trust her again. She would at least like to know the woman's true name. She did not want to lose the connection that she felt to the bodyguard because she felt it with so few people. To be honest, although Kim would not admit to herself, the connection that she felt to Shego was different compared to the ones that she felt to her friends and family. She had never experienced it before and it was something that she could not describe, just knowing that it was a positive and good thing. She could not, would not let the bodyguard throw everything away.

Shego squirmed in her seat for a moment, which did not go unnoticed. She wished that the redhead would stop trying to reach out to her. The more Kim reached, the more Shego remembered how much she enjoyed being around the redhead and the more her anger conceded to their bond. She then had to remind herself that she liked the redhead back when she was "Akako-chan" and not some filthy inu to try to keep her fury burning.

Kim decided to keep going since she noticed that Shego was getting fidgety. The pale woman was also fighting with herself to not glance over at Kim, which the samurai could see because those emerald eyes were wandering all over the cave now. Those emerald eyes stopped when they were in her direction for just a piece of a second, but they were focused on the ground.

"You know, if you'd just give me a chance, you'd know I mean this. I enjoyed being around you. And I like you so much that I'd even play the shamisen if you'd just forgive me for being a spy," Kim seemed to plead. She knew that sounded rather ridiculous, but if Shego would read her well, she figured it should work.

The moss-hued female cracked a smile before she could stop herself; she wished that she had her mask to cover that up. It was not just because she knew that Kim hated playing the shamisen, but it was her choice of words. She had actually asked forgiveness for being a spy. It seemed like an odd thing to request.

There was also the tone of her voice. Kim sounded near desperate to her and it was something that she could relate to. She understood that Kim was trying to retrieve and revive some part of what they had and she wanted that; she needed it. It seemed like Kim needed it too. They needed each other and what they gave each other, even if they did not want to acknowledge the connection itself. They had to accept its existence and allow it to repair the damage done because they needed that in order to feel at peace again.

Shego turned her attention to Kim. The redhead took that as a good sign. Plus, the pale woman did not look at angry anymore. There was something about Kim that told Shego that, even though Kim had turned out to be a spy, she was still "Akako-chan," although she had a different name and everything. She was fairly sure that Kim had been honest with her when they were together. Their bond had been real, not some act.

"You'd have to serve sake too," Shego remarked.

Kim smiled at that, even though it was a taunt. But, she was not sure if the comment meant that she was forgiven. Did her friendship mean as much to Shego as Shego's friendship meant to her? She supposed only time would tell. She then shivered as a cold breeze blew into the cave; Shego noticed.

"Come here," the pale woman ordered.

"Huh?" Kim asked, shocked by the harsh sounding command.

"Come here," Shego repeated.

The samurai was not sure why, but she complied with the order. She crawled over to Shego, who snatched the teenager up and embraced her. Kim was a bit stunned by the move and she blushed, which Shego took note of. The emerald-eyed woman smiled just a little bit. Maybe there still was a chance for her to adore the girl, she considered. Maybe there was room for forgiveness in her heart, not that she ever thought such a thing was possible.

Shego carried grudges for a long time; it made her a horrible Buddhist. Yet, some unidentified emotions had just defeated her anger and her grudge. She supposed that she might want to work on figuring out exactly how such a powerful connection worked before she ended up at the mercy of a girl that she was starting to think that she could adore.

"You're really warm, yojimbo-san," Kim commented in a low voice when she realized that she was warming up faster than expected while being in the arms of the older woman.

"Shego," the pale warrior said.

"What?" the redhead asked in a confused tone.

"My name is Shego, so you can stop calling me 'yojimbo-san,' especially since the guy I was a bodyguard for is probably dead," Shego explained in a plain tone. She tried not to think about that blue idiot.

"Oh…" Kim muttered.

Drakken probably was dead, they both figured. Shego was unaware that he was captured, but she would not have put it passed him to have either died in that huge fire or to have been captured, meaning he was probably crucified by now. Kim knew that Drakken had been captured and she was inclined to agree that he was probably dead by now, if Betty and her people had arrived at Edo anyway. It had been about a week, give or take a day in her opinion, so they might not be in Edo yet.

"I'm sorry," Kim mumbled. She was sorry to have caused the bodyguard any grief over the death of her master, if Shego did feel as such anyway. She was willing to bet that Shego felt something over the probably death of the inventor; she had been working for him as his personal bodyguard, after all.

"Don't be. I'm not. Everyone should be prepared for the consequences of their actions," Shego replied in an even tone. She would mourn for Drakken, she supposed, but not outwardly. He did need to be prepared to die; that was how the life of an outlaw was.

Kim nodded in agreement. She then curled up closer to Shego, which the raven-haired female noticed of course. They both told themselves that the action was done because Kim was looking for more warmth, but that did not explain why they were both blushing from the action. They tried not to admit to themselves how comfortable it all was.

They were quiet for a long while once they settled into their positions of Shego embracing the redhead and Kim cuddling up close to her living furnace. It reminded them of back when they were alone at the teahouse. They actually felt that same soothing and calm feeling, letting them know that things had not changed between them, even though they now knew what each was. It was like everything was at peace and right, like they belonged near each other.

And then they both realized that sooner or later, they were going to have to break apart. They were going to have to return to Edo. Nothing could come of them anyway if the feelings that were experiencing meant what they thought they meant. All they had to be at peace with each other as they were was their time in the cave right now. Well, maybe it would never stop raining and their time would last forever.

* * *

1. Inu: dog or spy.

* * *

Next time: the rain continues and things heat up as they decide just what their feelings are.


	16. Identity

I don't own these characters.

A/N: this is a pic alert. On my profile, there's another pic by Sapphicspencil and it is worth checking out.

16: Identity

The rain was still coming down. It was nighttime by now and that was only noticeable because it was darker than before. Shego was still holding onto Kim, who was sleeping rather soundly; so much so that it would probably creep the teenager out if she was aware of it. Shego was staring at the redhead.

The kid did something to her. It was not something negative or physical. It was an internal something, but Shego did not know what it was exactly because she had never felt something like it before. She knew that whatever it was, it had made her angrier at Kim than any other person that she had been in her whole life, and that was something considering how often and easily she lost her temper. But, it was that same thing that had allowed her to forgive Kim when the samurai requested it. It was something that she believed was strange, especially since she could not identify it exactly.

What had the little redhead done to her, Shego wondered. She should still be upset with Kim for being a spy, she believed. But, she just did not have it in her when the teen asked for forgiveness; it was like she was just waiting for that moment, so she could surrender. She had been considering forgiving Kim before the redhead even asked. It was just that the olive-eyed warrior had admitted to enjoying spending time with her and she knew that Kim was speaking in earnest; she could just see it in those eyes that pled with her to keep what they had. It had done something to her, touching points inside of her that did not want their bond to die either and overwhelming all of her anger, quelling the negative emotion like an animal trainer did with performing dogs.

Did it mean so much for her to have a friend? She guessed so. She had had friends when she was a child, but she did not feel the same way about them as she felt about Kim. She figured that maybe adults felt different about comrades than children did and that made sense to her. The world was different from childhood to adulthood. So, why would friendship not be the same? An eerie voice in the back of her mind scoffed at the notion, mocking her it would seem. It knew why she had given in, why she had been silently begging to yield, and why she always would as long as that invisible connection between her and the redhead existed.

She continued to focus on Kim. She was keeping the girl warm since they were stuck in a drafty cave in what seemed to be a mini-typhoon, she thought. It was coming down out there like someone was pouring the ocean on the land. The winds were howling like lonely wolves and blowing into the cave on occasion. It did not look like the weather was going to break anytime soon either. She did not mind that and it was an excellent excuse to keep Kim close to her.

The redhead seemed to read her thoughts and snuggled in closer for more heat. The raven-haired woman nearly smiled because of the action. She liked having Kim pressed against her, feeling safe enough to sleep so soundly in her arms, trusting her enough to protect her from the winds, rains, and any other enemy that dared to vex them. She could hardly believe that she had even considered killing the teen earlier that afternoon. It seemed unreal.

Maybe it was deeper than a friendship, Shego considered because of the voice in the back of head mocking her for even trying to think that their bond was about friendship. She just had never felt anything like it to know just what it was precisely. As she looked at the peaceful expression on Kim's visage, she thought about it more. Maybe it was much deeper than a friendship. After all, why would she feel like kissing a friend?

Through out her life, she had had such attractions. At first, she thought that they were perfectly normal. It was logical to her that a girl could be attracted to another girl. After all, boys were attracted to girls, so obviously there must be something really nice about girls. The idea entered her mind because she had always been a daddy's little girl. She had idolized her father for much of her life. Whatever her father did was the ideal for her and her father had been attracted to her mother. Her father was attracted to women. It had to be best to be attracted to women, she concluded based on that information.

As she grew older, Shego had come to understand that she was not supposed to be attracted to women, mostly through admonishments from her parents. It was through those reprimands that she had come to think that the attraction was wrong, for her anyway. She began focusing on men, believing that to be the right course of action since it was the opposite of what she had been doing, and she forgot about her earlier attraction. Well, she thought that she had forgotten about it. Maybe it had just been waiting under her skin for a moment like now.

Shego took her hand and brought it up to Kim's face. She caressed the redhead's slightly chubby cheek. She had to be careful with her fingers because her nails were like claws, but she made sure to take extra-care while touching the younger fighter. Her face was soft, like lily petals.

"Is that it?" Shego asked herself. She was not too sure, but she did note that the voice in the back of her mind shut up when she got to that conclusion. She thought that she had gotten over her attraction to females. It had not even been an issue with her for almost fifteen years. She did not see why it was coming out now. She had not even considered it back when she thought that Kim was "Akako-chan." There was something between now and then that changed that, but she could not figure out what it was.

Back when she thought that Kim was "Akako-chan," yes, she thought that the girl was adorable. It was hard not to think of the redhead that way back then. She was made up to look cute and then there was something about her reluctant performance as a maiko that Shego enjoyed. She supposed that she just liked seeing people when they were uncomfortable and Kim had been extremely uncomfortable as a maiko, even when they had spent plenty of time together. There was just a charming quality about it.

She had been able to tell that Kim did not like being ordered around, which made sense now that she knew Kim was a samurai. The younger woman was more than likely used to someone doing all of the things for her that she had been doing for Shego, especially pouring drink. Ah well, it was still fun to watch her do it.

Being around Kim then had been fun in its own weird way, but it had not led her to consider that she might be attracted to the redhead in what she had been told on many occasions was an inappropriate fashion; she had never been given reasons as to why it was improper. What was changing the teenager from someone that she thought was adorable and friendly to someone that she might be attracted to? She figured that if she thought on it some more, she would figure it out now that her anger had passed.

Shego glanced outside of the cave and noticed that it was not raining as hard as it had been a second ago. She considered that she might go scout around while the rain was more of a drizzle than a pour. She eased Kim off of her, missing the small amount of weight already. She sighed and then left the cave.

* * *

Kim shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, hoping to warm herself up. She then remembered that she had been more than warm not too long ago. She had been warm because she had been pressed against Shego. She opened her eyes, considering that if the warmth was gone, then Shego might be as well.

The olive-eyed female found out that she was correct. Shego was gone. She immediately knew how she felt about that, hurt, betrayed, and angry; Shego would have found that ironic and amusing. She had halfway poured her heart out to Shego and the pale woman disarmed her with an embrace only to cut out as soon as she was asleep. What a worm!

She sat up and crawled to the mouth of the cave. It was still raining, harder than she remembered. She sucked her teeth because of the weather. If Shego had gotten enough of a head-start, the rain would wash away her tracks and make it harder to find her again. She did not care; she would find Shego and take her back to Edo by force if necessary if the older woman was just going to toy with her.

And then those thoughts faded as Shego came out of the dark and crawled back into the cave. Kim was stunned by that and she backed away to let the moss-hued fighter in the cavern. She hid the shock in her face while Shego sat down so close to her that Kim could feel the wonderful body heat of the raven-haired female.

"You're up. I thought you'd still be sleeping. I've been gone for a few minutes, after all," Shego commented. She thought that she would make a quick sweep of the area and then be back way before Kim's body got cold enough to where she might not wake up from her little sleep.

"Where'd you go?" the redhead asked curiously.

"I was hoping to find a village nearby. I mean, this rain doesn't seem to be letting up and I'd rather not wait out the storm in a filthy cave," the pale woman explained.

"Is there a village around?"

"None from what I could see, but it is dark. I found an abandoned house, though. So, come on," Shego urged the younger warrior.

Kim was about to say something, but Shego put her hand out for the slender redhead. Kim was taken back by the gesture, but she got over that rather quickly. She took the surprisingly small hand of Shego and the pale woman led her out of the cave.

While they went toward the house that Shego was talking about, Kim looked down at the hand holding hers and noted how she liked the sight. It was hard to believe that she had never noticed how feminine those hands were, but now she could see that they were similar to her own. The hand was not soft, but it still brought a continuous gentle wave of pleasantness through Kim. It was not like anything that she had ever felt and she did not want it to end.

How could a hand holding her own hand have such an affect on her, Kim wondered. She did not really get the chance to consider it because they came to the house rather quickly. It seemed like there was someone there in Kim's opinion. She could tell from a window that there was a fire going on in the place.

"Shego-san, are you sure someone doesn't live there?" Kim asked.

"No one's there," Shego replied. "And don't call me 'Shego-san,'" she added. She disliked like when perceived friends were formal with her and she had been that way since childhood.

"But, that's your name, right? And there's a fire in there," the younger woman pointed out.

"I started the fire. And my name is Shego, without the 'san.' Got it?"

"Okay," Kim replied.

Shego glanced back at the redhead, just to make sure she was all right. They went into the little wooden shack and saw that there was a fire going in the fire pit in the center of the one room house. Shego thought that it would be best for the place to be warm for Kim when she showed up. She tried her best not to question why she was being so considerate, even though she had already gotten to thinking about it. Not to mention, part of her seemed to swear that it already knew the answer.

They sat down on the wooden floor. The house was dry; well, it was drier than the cave anyway. It was also warmer than the cave, so Kim guessed that her time curled up next to Shego was done. Ah, well, she reminded herself that all good things had to come to an end.

Now that she was warmer and awake, though, Kim remembered her injuries from her battle with Shego earlier. Her whole body was aching, but the places that were really throbbing were the scratch marks. She pulled her sleeves up to inspect those to see that they were more like burns than regular slash marks. Well, that explained why they were hurting more so than her other injuries.

"What are you doing?" Shego inquired when she noticed Kim staring at her arm.

"Nothing," Kim replied while pushing her sleeve back down.

Kim went into her pocket and pulled out a very small container. She opened it and then pulled her sleeve back up. Shego noticed those actions as well and figured that Kim was applying medicine to her burns.

"Let me do that for you," Shego offered, figuring it might help ease her guilt for having harmed the samurai so much in the heat of anger.

Kim did not argue and handed over the container, which held a special balm her mother made for her since she did suffer wounds every now and then. It came with being an active person and a warrior. Shego carefully applied the salve to each scratch mark on both of Kim's arms. When she was done, she handed the cream back Kim.

Shego wanted to ask if Kim felt better, but her voice would not do it. She was glad that it had not done so because it made her remember that she was no longer dealing with a delicate little maiko anymore. She was in the presence of a masterful samurai and she supposed that she liked that more than thinking of Kim as a dainty maiko.

The redhead turned her attention to Shego after she returned her balm to its place in her pocket and they just sort of stared at each other. They did not know what else to do. Moving from the cave might not have been the best idea, Shego considered. Now, they seemed a bit awkward around each other and they both disliked that, but were unsure of how to dispel the strange air around them.

The pale woman had thought that it would have been good to move from the cavern. She did not like the open cave and Kim was cold, so she thought that things would be better in the small shack, but she supposed that she was wrong. She had been banking on Kim going back to sleep too, but it seemed like the girl was intent on staying awake now.

Kim had actually fallen asleep in the cave by accident. She had been so comfortable and resting against Shego had been soothing. The rhythm of her breathing and the sound of her heart beating had been like a lullaby for Kim. Lying on a stiff, wooden floor just was not going to cut it after catching a nap against Shego.

"Shego-san…I mean, Shego, what now?" Kim asked.

"What do you mean? We wait for the rain to stop and we get going on to Edo, as promised," Shego answered.

"You're going to go back to Edo?" the redhead inquired with a bit of a shock.

"I gave you my word," the emerald-eyed warrior replied with a bit of a shrug to down play the significance of the matter.

Kim was seriously impressed by that. Shego had made an arrogant, hate-fueled boast when she promised to return to Edo before their fight, yet she was standing by it. She was quite possibly going to go to her death, but she was going to keep her word. Kim knew that most people would have fled as soon as they had the chance, but Shego had the chance twice and only used one of those to go find better shelter. Wow.

"You should probably get some sleep. I don't think that rain is going to do stop anytime soon," Shego commented.

Kim was not sure what to say. Her body was rather weary and she would not mind getting some sleep, but she did not feel like it right now. She wanted to stay awake and she did not know why.

"Shego-san…I mean, Shego," Kim corrected herself again. She looked away for a moment while sucking her teeth in embarrassment because she was slow in calling Shego what she desired to be called.

The smart-aleck warrior laughed a bit at Kim's reaction to her mistake. There was something about Kim, she silently noted for probably the millionth time now that she thought about. Almost everything that she did was cute to the green-skinned woman. She had never met anyone quite like Kim and she supposed that added in the fact that she could forgive the redhead for the whole spy thing. She had an inkling that the unnamed emotions that she held for the teenager was what made Kim cute in the first place. It was all so very odd, she thought.

"Yeah?" the raven-haired female replied.

"Um…" Kim was not too sure what she wanted to say, but she knew that it was going to be too much. She looked away and licked her lips, wondering if she should chance what her words. She might bring down Shego's wrath again if she did. "I'm glad you're not upset with me anymore," she opted to confess.

Shego nodded, but she could see that there was more underlying that statement from the look in those olive eyes. She realized that for her, those dark green eyes were windows into Kim's mind and there was something that she wanted to get out, but was deciding against. Something that was probably important. It was probably why the redhead had made that obvious admission. Well, Shego would try to get to that information because she wanted to know what it was now that she could see that it was there.

"And why is that?" the pale female asked.

"Well…um…because I like being around you," Kim replied. That was as obvious as the fact that she was pleased that Shego was no longer vexed with her.

"So you've said," Shego pointed out as if it was trivial information.

The younger fighter nodded and then chewed the inside of her lip in a nervous fashion. She had said that already, she reminded herself. Something inside of her was compelling her to speak, but it was not offering up exactly what she wanted to say or why she wanted to say it. It just had something to do with back when they were spending time in the teahouse and she believed that she knew what it was. She did not want to say it and run the risk of having Shego irate with her all over again.

"You know I don't think I ever thanked you for taking me out to that hill those couple of times," the samurai said with a nervous grin. It was a dodge in Shego's opinion.

"You have," the super-powered warrior informed Kim.

"Oh." The teen just laughed. It was an anxious sound, which Shego took note of. Damn it, Kim cursed mentally. She told herself to either say what she felt necessary or to just shut up altogether before Shego started to think that there was something wrong with her. "Get it together, Possible," Kim ordered herself mentally.

Shego studied her redheaded companion, who looked like she was mentally fighting with herself. The older woman was trying to figure out what Kim was trying to get at. It was apparently something that she would rather dance around then bring up. She could not put her finger on what that might be. Was Kim looking to apologize again? That would not explain her nervousness.

"Maybe you should go back to sleep," Shego suggested, if only so she did not have to look at the samurai's twisted expression as she tried to get out what she wanted to say.

"I'm not really tired," Kim replied. She lying and that was clear from how sound she had been sleeping back in the cave. She was still exhausted, which Shego expected. They had had a grueling battle and then the redhead had carried her body to that cave and she could only guess the distance between the combat zone to the cave.

"You don't trust me?" Shego asked with a taunting smile. It looked down right spooky in the fire-lit setting with the flames dancing and illuminating different parts of her face. Kim considered that Shego's face was what youkai (1) might look like.

"It's not that," the younger warrior answered honestly, which Shego knew anyway since Kim had already fallen asleep against her.

"Then you should go back to sleep."

Kim was not sure how to protest the suggestion without sounding weird or like a ranting idiot because she was not sure why she did not want to go back to sleep. She ended up nodding in agreement since she could not think of a proper response. Her body would be grateful for the rest anyway.

The redhead lay down as close to the fire as she could without burning herself and tried to go to sleep. She ended up pretending to sleep, thinking that if she did not do that then Shego might scold her or something like that for doing something idiotic, like staying awake when it was clear that she needed sleep. She was not sure why she thought that, but she was pretty right about that assumption.

Kim thought about what she had been trying to tell Shego and she could almost figure out exactly what it was. It frightened her a little bit as she realized it. There were so many things wrong with it and she just could not say it. What would Shego think, after all? The older woman would certainly be enraged by her again and she would rather not deal with that.

Shego watched Kim for a few moments and then turned her attention to outside. She could still hear the rain coming down hard and the winds were still bellowing to their hearts content. She guessed that she could get some sleep too. Her body would appreciate the rest just as much as Kim's would; after all, she had been in the same fight.

The pale woman hit the deck and tried to go to sleep on the hard wood. While she rested on her side, she realized how much it hurt. Kim had really done a number on her. She chuckled internally; she had been pounded by a little kitsune (2). She was aware that Kim would take offense if she knew that was the thought in Shego's mind about her defeat. Hey, maybe she was a fox spirit. It would explain why she won, in Shego's opinion anyway.

Shego glanced over her shoulder to look at Kim. She then looked at Kim's shadow out of curiosity. It was too distorted to tell her anything, so she was going to have to swallow her pride and just admit that she was beaten by an above average young samurai, an extraordinary samurai. At least it was Kim that had beaten her. If anyone else had been able to pull off such a feat, they would have been rubbing it in her face, especially Director Betty. Oh, that was going to be one smug bitch when they got back to Edo and turned herself in. She would rather be crucified than have to deal with that one-eyed annoyance.

She then turned her attention back to trying to go to sleep. Sleep did not seem to be coming, though. The floor was uncomfortable and something seemed to be missing to help her relax enough to go to sleep. She started thinking. She thought about how she had been holding Kim not too long ago and it had made her feel at peace. Maybe if she was doing that again, she would be able to sleep. Well, it was worth a shot and Kim would not know since she was asleep anyway.

Shego silently got up and moved closer to Kim, which the redhead did notice since she was not sleeping. She wondered what her green-skinned companion was doing. She heard and felt Shego stop when the older woman was behind her. The redhead wondered what Shego was doing. She did not worry, but she did consider that Shego was a little strange and then she felt an arm wrap around her waist. It took all of her self-control to continue feigning sleep and not react to the limb pulling her close to a warm body.

Shego sighed; yeah, that certainly felt better. She rested her head on top of her free arm, letting it act like a pillow; Kim was not doing that with her arms since they were injured. Shego's face was settled near the top of Kim's head and close to being right in Kim's red-orange mane. She inhaled, taking in the samurai's natural scent, which was buried underneath the layers of sweat, mud, and rain that she was coated in thanks to the day that they had had. She smelled faintly of wild flowers. They both hardly stayed awake a minute after Shego had moved.

--(Next day)

One of the two warriors evidently moved around in her sleep. Why was it obvious? Because Shego was now lying on her back and Kim was spread out on top of her. So, either Shego rolled over from her side onto her back and took Kim with her since she had her arm around the olive-eyed teen or Kim turned around completely sometime in the night and caused Shego to fall over. They would never know because they were both going to deny that they moved in their sleep later on.

For the moment, they both awakened at the same time. Kim was the first to stir, but Shego noticed the movement against her and that caused her to regain consciousness. They almost immediately noticed their situation. They would have noticed sooner, but they were wondering why they had had such great sleeps and then came the awkward realization of how they were positioned. They both blushed; Kim more so than Shego.

"Um...sorry!" Kim squeaked as she moved to get off of the elder warrior, but two things prevented that from happening. One was the arm that was still around her waist flexed and held her in place. The other was the fact that Shego verbally halted her.

"Don't move," Shego sort of commanded/requested. It was a mix of the two and she hoped that Kim would respond to one of them.

"Why not?" the younger woman asked quietly. Maybe something was wrong. Was there a danger around or something? Nothing got her attention, aside for the strange way that she was on Shego anyway.

"I like you right where you are," the pale woman commented with a smirk. Hey, it was the truth.

"I don't understand," the redhead replied.

Shego chuckled a bit. She did not expect Kim to understand. After all, how she felt right now, it just was not normal. It was inappropriate as far as she knew. It would have surprised her to know that underneath it all, in a place that Kim was not too sure existed, she did understand what was going on.

"What's there not to understand?" Shego teased. "I like you right where you are," she repeated and she began caressing the younger woman's back.

Kim blushed even deeper. It seemed like she might have popped a blood vessel in her face from the dark crimson stain spreading across her visage. She could feel it too, so she knew that she was about as red as her hakama, if not more so, and that sort of embarrassed her, which did not help. She only blushed more.

"Shego-san," Kim started, but she was cut off.

"Shego," came the correction.

"Right, Shego. Um…maybe we should get up now," the teen suggested.

"Why? It's not like we've got anywhere to go," Shego replied.

They both could still hear the rain coming down just like it had been last night. Hell, the only reason that they knew it was morning was because it was just less dark outside, but the sun was not making its presence known by much. There were obviously still clouds in the sky blocking the sun. It was probably a rather miserable morning out there, but Shego was not inclined to find out, especially since the morning inside was the total opposite.

"Yes, I know—" Kim tried to say, but Shego interjected again.

"Then let's just appreciate getting to see another day," the green-skinned woman remarked while pulling Kim closer to her.

The redhead seemed to be unable to blush anymore, which was probably good since she did need her blood circulating her body rather than rushing to her face. She rather enjoyed being so close to Shego and she was rather certain that she knew why. It was what she had been trying to say last night, but she had not been so sure of it. She knew now, though.

"Now, isn't this much better than protesting and suggesting that we should get up?" Shego commented while putting her other arm around Kim.

The teenage warrior nodded without realizing it. She was telling the truth, but she had not told her brain to make that movement. Well, it was too late to take back now and it was honest, so there was nothing wrong with it. She exhaled slowly and made herself comfortable where she was since Shego was not taking offense to their predicament.

"Shego…" the olive-eyed female said.

"Yeah?" Shego replied.

"I have something that I really want to tell you."

"All right. Shoot."

"Well…back when you were a client at the teahouse…well…I think I was starting to like you…" Kim confessed. Maybe Yori had had a point back then. She had been at least a little smitten with the bodyguard, which was why she had been so comfortable around "him" and why she had made sure "he" did not go out that night when there was the raid on Senior's home. She had to admit that to herself now. She had done those things not for a friend, but someone that she was falling for.

"Only starting?" the raven-haired female teased. She had a playful smirk on her face.

"Okay, do you know what I mean, though?" Kim asked since Shego was taking it so lightly.

"Yes, I know what you mean," Shego sighed, but it was not a disheartening sound in the least, which let Kim know that it was all right to try to finish talking.

"Okay, well…um…you know…um…"

"Spit it out, hime (3)," Shego said. She was not sure why she had used that nickname, but it was a nice name now that she let it slip. She just wanted to sound understanding and thought that a pet name might help Kim say what was on her mind.

"Well…the thing is that…um, that hasn't changed…I still like you," the redhead confessed and then she looked away. She was waiting for Shego to yell at her for admitting such a thing, for even thinking such a thing.

"That is good to know," the pale woman commented in an almost disarmingly light tone.

"It is?" the teen asked with confusion dominating her voice.

"It is very good to know."

"Why?"

Shego only smiled. It was not her way to explain herself for things like that. But, back when she thought that Kim was a maiko, she realized now in retrospect that she had been starting to like Kim too and not in a friendly manner. The feeling had not waned since finding out that Kim was something else because she could tell that Kim had been being herself, even when she was pretending that she was someone else. It was the reason why everything was going the way things were.

It was the connection that they felt, Shego was sure of that. It was not just a liking, it was an attraction; a very adult attraction. It was also a rather heavy attraction in Shego's opinion, at least on her end for it to have conquered all of her negative emotions toward the samurai.

"So, it's all right for me to still like you?" Kim asked because that did not seem right to her. In the things that she had seen in her short life, women liking women in the manner that she liked Shego was not one on that list.

"It is," Shego confirmed.

"But, you're a woman," the redheaded samurai pointed out. She thought that there had to be something wrong with that.

"Yeah, I noticed that too," the emerald-eyed female remarked with a smile. "There's nothing wrong with it," she promised the younger woman. There could not be anything with it, not with the way she felt and she was certain that the redhead felt the same way too. It could only be wonderful, even if it was inappropriate as far as she knew.

Kim was about to say something else, but Shego decided to just show her that everything was all right. She pulled Kim down to her and pressed her mouth against Kim's. The redhead was so caught by surprise that she pulled away. She stared at Shego with wide eyes.

"It felt wrong?" Shego guessed. She figured that was why Kim had wrenched herself away from the contact.

Kim did not respond. She stared into those lovely emerald eyes, glad that she was now allowed to see them along with the charming face that accompanied them. She then leaned down and kissed Shego, softly and gently. It felt far from wrong.

* * *

1: youkai: ghost, phantom, or an apparition.

2: kitsune: fox.

3: hime: princess.

* * *

Next time: the rating goes up.


	17. Let it go

I don't own these characters.

Warning: lemony things happen.

17: Let it go

Shego and Kim continued to share and thoroughly enjoy their second kiss. They were still positioned with Shego lying on her back and Kim was on top of her. Their lips were pressed together in a rather sweet, almost innocent way, which was fine for a moment. Shego was set to change that, though.

The pale woman pulled away for less than a millisecond; it was not even long enough for Kim to realize that the kiss halted. Shego tilted her head slightly to adjust the embrace, making it deeper than before. She also went back to stroking Kim's back; her arms were wrapped around the redhead, keeping her pressed against Shego.

Kim began to moan softly. It felt so incredible that it had to be right, she thought. She had hopes that the kiss would never end, but she did need to breathe. Damn her lungs, she thought. She pulled away to inhale, but that did not stop Shego. She did let Kim breathe, but she did that, Shego just moved on.

The green-skinned warrior moved her mouth to Kim's throat. She licked and sucked at the flesh as if it was the sweetest thing that she had ever tasted, applying some gentle pressure to her work. Kim cried out, not expecting the fierce attention from the older woman and not knowing that something could feel so fantastic without fighting being involved. The sound surprised Kim more than it did Shego and she pulled away when she realized that she was one making it. She stared down at Shego while trying to catch her breath; there was a questioning gaze in her olive eyes. The raven-haired woman wondered why the redhead had yanked back.

"Something wrong, Kim-hime?" Shego inquired, hoping to all that was holy there was nothing wrong. She did not want to scare Kim off or anything.

"No…I just…I just didn't expect that to feel so good," Kim explained in a slightly low voice, which showed her amazement. She just needed a pause for a second to take in what she had just experienced, but there was nothing wrong.

"Well, it can get better," the emerald-eyed warrior commented with a smirk that went over Kim's head. Shego had expected that to happen, but it was still fun to play around.

"It can?" Kim asked incredulously. How was that plausible? And then she felt Shego's hands wandering lower from her back. Her eyebrows shot up in realization, but also in confusion. Shego could not mean _that_, could she? How could she mean _that_?

"It definitely can," the raven-haired woman replied while kneading the area that her hands had come to rest on. She wished the clothing was not in the way. She wanted to know what the samurai felt like.

"I don't think I can do that," the redhead stated. Not only would she not know where to begin, but she considered that it might count as losing her virginity and she was not sure if she was ready for that.

"Why not?" Shego asked curiously. She was willing to bet that Kim had a more moralistic reason than a practical reason.

"Well, I don't think I'm ready for that and we should be more focused on other things."

"We can focus on other things when the storm lifts. For now, let's just enjoy the excuse to lie here and get to know each other a little better," the older fighter commented with another suggestive smirk. She knew that she was definitely enjoying the excuse and she was going to help Kim enjoy it if she was not doing so already.

The samurai was not sure what to say. She glanced away for a moment and Shego took that as a chance to steal a kiss. The olive-eyed samurai turned her focus back to Shego, who came in for another kiss as soon as that happened. Kim did not argue with the action. She thought that kissing was the only thing that they would do since she had already expressed her thoughts on doing "that." She did not have any problem with kissing Shego; it felt good. Very good.

Shego was surprised at how excellent it felt to kiss the redheaded warrior. It was different from any other kiss that she had had in her life and she had quite a few of those. It was not just that she was attracted to Kim, she realized. She cared about Kim, which was something that she probably would have figured out sooner if she stopped and thought about her actions toward the slender redhead. She was not shocked that she cared about the teen. She could care about people like most other beings on the planet; it was just rare. It took a lot for her to care about someone.

Kim had already come to terms with the fact that she cared about Shego. How she felt about the former bodyguard had not changed since she found out that Shego was a woman, which she would have thought was odd if she had a moment to think about it, but the kissing made thinking rather hard. All she could do was focus on how right it felt to kiss Shego, how delicious the pale woman was, and how she would not mind being able to kiss Shego all of the time.

After a few minutes, Shego grew weary of resting on her back; the hardwood was not an ideal place to lie down in her opinion. She sat up without breaking the kiss that they were, making her to keep her hold on the smaller female. She kept one hand on Kim's back to support her and moved the other hand to the front of the teen. She explored Kim's torso with her palm, her very warm palm; her hand was heated enough for Kim to feel the heat through her top.

Kim made a very small, almost yelp-like noise when Shego started stroking her chest. She pretty much melted against Shego because of the caressing and the warmth of Shego's hand. It made her quiver on the inside, especially the pit of her stomach. She did not know what to make of that, but she knew that she liked it.

Shego noted the reaction, was pleased with it, and decided to go in for more. She went in the folds of Kim's kimono, searching for some skin to touch. Kim jumped as she felt the hand inside her clothing and she pulled away again. The redhead looked away again, almost as if she was ashamed.

"What's wrong now, Princess?" Shego inquired, making sure to keep an even tone. She was not annoyed or anything with Kim's behavior. She could understand the teen's reluctance and shyness toward what was happening.

"Well, this just doesn't seem proper," the samurai answered, thinking the words were ridiculous as she allowed them to leave her mouth.

"Doesn't seem proper?" Shego echoed. Of course it did not feel proper. It was not proper as far as she knew. They were two females enjoying the touch of each other, but she could care less about that because they were enjoying each other. They cared about each other and that was all that mattered in her opinion.

"It doesn't."

"Well, that's because it's not. You should know that. What does it matter, though? Do you always do what's proper?"

"No," Kim answered honestly. Usually, the word "proper" was not even in her vocabulary. She did what she wanted because her parents let her. They felt as long as she was happy and not hurting someone that did not deserve it, it was all right. They always said that they were just happy if she was happy because she was a good child. She supposed that she brought up "proper" now because she was a little nervous.

"Then what's the problem?" Shego asked.

"Don't you ever do what's proper?" Kim countered, almost as if she was stalling, but she did not realize it.

"I do what I want. It's my life," the pale woman answered. There were times when she was "proper" and then there were times when she was…well, less than proper.

Kim nodded in agreement to that one. She already knew quite a bit about Shego's philosophy in life after the talks that they had back at the teahouse. Freedom seemed to be all Shego was about, but what was her idea of freedom, Kim now wondered. It was not something that the emerald-eyed female ever went into.

"Shego," Kim said.

"Hmm?" Shego made the noise instead of actually responding because she was moving on. She positioned herself to kiss Kim's ear and she started with small pecks around the shell of the ear.

"Shego," Kim said again while trying her best to not lean into the new attention. She was now curious about what made the woman underneath her tick.

"Hmm?" the green-skinned warrior repeated.

"What does freedom mean to you?"

"What?" Shego asked. Damn it, she was being distracted by questions that required thought. She just wanted to enjoy the closeness that she was sharing with someone that she cared about.

"What does freedom mean to you?" the redhead repeated.

"Freedom means being able to do what I want, whether others agree or disagree, if it's right or wrong, or if it's going to end badly or not. I get to do what I want as long as I can accept what happens because of that. I take responsibility for what I do while acting how I want. That's freedom to me," Shego explained in a low voice because she was still by Kim's ear.

The younger woman nodded a bit to show that she understood. She supposed that she could agree with that, especially since it actually made sense to her. Was she that free? Could she do what she wanted no matter what? Pretty much since she could do anything; that belief had been drilled into her head since she was a toddler. She just would not do many of the things that Shego seemed to do.

"Done with the questions?" Shego inquired.

"I don't know. Maybe," Kim replied.

"Maybe?" Shego echoed while pulling away to look the slim samurai in the face. She wanted to make sure that her companion was serious with that response.

"I just want to get to know you a little better, to understand where you're coming from," the redhead explained.

"I think you know where I'm coming from and it might scare you a little bit. A fighter like you, hanging out with the Shogun's dogs, running after me all alone, you know where I'm coming from. If anything, you're trying to understand yourself a little better through me. Maybe you're wondering what it would take for you to do what I did. You're wondering what it would take you to turn against the government and follow an obvious moron to your probable demise," Shego commented with a bit of a laugh.

"Well, what made you do it?" the younger female asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

"It was something to do, something creative and exciting. He was amusing. Besides, I don't like the damn Shogun much anyway. Controlling asshole," the pale woman stated soundly with a slight shrug. She supposed that there was the thought also that Drakken was not going to pull it off, but she did not even acknowledge that thought.

"You don't like the Shogun much, huh?"

"Nope, which is why I could do what I did. Do you like the Shogun so much that you'll risk your life over him?" the green-skinned woman countered.

Kim thought about how to answer that question. "I wouldn't say I like him. I never met him. I like the peace, safety, and order and I like to help people. You guys would've turned Edo into a battlefield and killed a lot of innocent people if you actually went along with your plan. I couldn't live with that."

"But, you didn't even know that was going to happen if you got fooled into taking the assignment in the first place," Shego pointed out, although she supposed that her redheaded companion had a point about all of the innocent people. She was not going to say anything about that, though.

Kim laughed a bit, looking slightly sheepish. "Yeah, I got fooled pretty good. But, she asked for my help before explaining it to me. You're a strong person, why don't you help regular people instead of assisting jerks in trying to take over the country? You didn't even like them and you didn't think they could rule the country. Why would you help them?" she asked curiously.

Shego shrugged. "They amused me. I thought it would be fun to watch them try to figure out what they were going to do if they ever did take over the country. They were just funny to watch. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment," she commented while looking Kim in the eye.

Maybe she was a glutton for punishment, Shego considered. Why else would she subject herself to things that just went against the grain? She was rid of Drakken and his crazy plots to take over all of Japan, but now she was attracted to a feisty samurai. And that was not just it either, considering that they had started off lying to each other. But, like her run with Drakken, she was willing to bet that she would stick with Kim, despite the way they had met.

Shego stared at Kim and something inside of her told her that she would definitely stick to Kim no matter what, probably better than she did with Drakken and that was something considering how she had Drakken's back. Whenever Drakken got into trouble, she usually went to his aid if she thought that he could not get out of it himself. She might take her time, but she always showed up to save him. And sure, she made fun of him, but when he was starting to get down about things, she would try to pep him up. He had been a clown, but damn it, he was her clown.

Now that she was thinking about him, her expression sort of fell. She guessed that she felt guilty because she felt like she failed Drakken in the end. She tried to get him to understand the severity of the situation, but his damned misplaced confidence did not seem to allow him to comprehend that he was not playing a game. Now the silly bastard was probably dead. She had failed him as a bodyguard.

"Shego, are you okay?" Kim asked because of the expression that the pale woman was now sporting.

"I'm fine," Shego lied. She knew that she was not. She knew what guilt was. It was not like it was a new experience; she just did not feel it very often. She had failed that idiot, her idiot.

"No, you're not. What's wrong?" the redhead inquired in a gentle tone.

Shego shook her head, declining to answer. She did not want to share what she now labeled as silly thoughts. Kim was not about to settle for that, though. She moved her hands, which had been resting at her side the whole time, and she used them to cup Shego's face. Her touch was rather tender, which Shego noted in the back of her mind along with the idea that she liked how Kim touched her.

"You can tell me. I'm here for you, Shego-chan," Kim said in a low, gentle tone. She hoped that adding the "chan" would get Shego to open up to her and to show that she wanted to be closer to the pale woman.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about someone."

"Who?"

"No one for us to worry about."

"Come on, you can talk to me," Kim insisted.

"It's nothing important."

"Shego," Kim said in a stern voice that she did not even know she had. "I'm here for you to talk about anything you want."

Shego glanced away for a moment. "I failed Drakken. I mean, he was a baka yaro (1) if ever there was one, but he was my baka (2). I set myself up as a person that could protect that clown. I was supposed to protect him."

"You did your best," the redhead stated.

"The words are hollow, Princess."

"They're the truth. How much could you do in a burning building? I do understand where you're coming from, but you can't let it eat you up. You did the best you could. Would it have been better for both of you to get caught? You weren't going to get away sticking around with him and the Seniors while the castle was burning down thanks to whatever the hell those things were that were supposed to be protecting the castle. You had a lot working against you," Kim pointed out.

Shego laughed a little. Thanks to Drakken, she did have a lot working against her. How was she supposed to save Drakken and the Seniors with his dolls setting everything on fire, not to mention throwing redheaded samurais at her? Well, she supposed that she should not feel too guilty about not saving Drakken. She could not even save herself, after all. Not just from being captured, but from being fooled into forgiving Kim for lying to her.

"I guess you're right," the pale woman agreed with Kim and then she leaned in for another kiss, almost like a thanks for being there for her and attempting to comfort her. It was something that Shego was not very used to.

Kim accepted the embrace and kept her hands on Shego's face. Shego put her hand back into Kim's kimono. She came into contact with the linen wraps that covered Kim's torso, hiding all of Kim's skin from her. Damn it, Shego cursed in her head because of the wraps. She really wanted to know what Kim felt like totally bare.

In the past, Shego would have chalked the thought all the way up to lust, but she was not even thinking about that one. Yes, she wanted Kim and had licentious feelings for her, but it was not the same. It was not like she just wanted to sate her lust with Kim and move on, making her feelings something she was unfamiliar with.

Shego decided screw it, disregarding the foreignness of her feelings, and started moving the wraps with her intrusive hand. The redhead felt that and she broke the kiss again. She moved away from the raven-haired woman again. Shego snorted like an irked bull, getting worked up with every second that went by and not wishing to stop now.

"What now?" Shego asked in a slightly irked, but curious tone.

"Could you…um…not do that?" Kim requested.

"Do what?"

"What you were just doing. I, well, I don't think I'm ready for something like that," the redhead explained.

"I'm just going to touch you, nothing too much. I'm not going to hurt you or anything," Shego pointed out while putting her free hand on Kim's waist.

"I know," the younger warrior said while glancing away in embarrassment. She wondered if she was just scared to do whatever it was the emerald-eyed woman was trying to get to. Was she frightened to be touched by Shego? Frightened to find out how good it was going to feel? She was not sure. She was not even totally sure if she truly did not want Shego to touch her as she was doing.

Shego sighed; why was it that nothing ever went exactly the way that she wanted them to go once she had something good going? She decided that she was going to try to change Kim's mind. It was not like they had anything better to do since it was still pouring rain outside and it was not like she was going to hurt Kim. All she wanted to do was make the redhead feel wonderful, which would make her feel just as good. All she wanted to do was revel in the new marvel that had entered her life.

The green-skinned woman moved her hand to Kim's face. She held Kim by the chin. It was to keep the redhead from pulling back when everything got started, so she could get into the mood. She leaned forward and took a little nip with her teeth of Kim's bottom lip. The redhead jumped slightly, but Shego did not pay that much mind. She came in again and she licked Kim's lip that time around.

"What are you doing?" Kim nearly shrieked the question because of how weird her companion was behaving.

"Something not quite proper. Do it with me," Shego requested with a suggestive half-smile.

Kim looked away, like a shy little girl. Shego thought that it was cute. She came in again for another taste, taking the tip of her tongue and dragging it upward from Kim's bottom to top lip. Kim yelped quietly from the action, but it was clear that she was enjoying the attention because she was not pulling away. It was a little odd, though, the samurai silently noted; odd in a positive, delightful way.

Shego smiled to herself. Maybe she would get her way, which would make up for the fact that she had lost the match and had to return to Edo. She would get something that she desired before having to deal with all kinds of crap that would come up when she did return to the city. She just desired to have something sweet before the bitterness of Edo cast its shadow into her world. She doubted that anything on the planet was sweeter than the redhead in her lap was.

Shego went in for something bold as she began considering that if she worked for her desire then she would get it. She forced Kim's mouth open ever so slightly and snaked her tongue in there. Kim jumped again because of the invasion, but she could not escape with Shego holding her by the face and back. It took a second or so, but Kim realized that the sensation was not at all disgusting and she had no reason to pull away. She even opened her mouth wider, which Shego took as a good sign.

The raven-haired female went in for deeper exploration of Kim's mouth, brushing her tongue against Kim's. The contact caused them both to moan and shudder just a bit. She had to do that again, Shego told herself. She slowly stroked Kim's tongue with her own. Kim continued to moan and whimper.

The feeling was rather curious to Shego because she had never done such a thing before. She had done many things in her twenty-plus years of living, but certain things just never crossed her mind. On the occasions that she sought adult companionship, she never bothered with deep exploration of a lover. She especially never even considered putting her tongue in a lover's mouth; the idea itself sounded rather gross. She just had never felt the urge to do find out about anything on a lover's body until now and she was pretty pleased with doing that.

Shego stopped thinking about that as Kim suddenly moved her tongue to meet Shego's. The pale woman was now surprised and a deep moan escaped her throat because of the great sensation that came from their tongues brushing against each other. The motion encouraged Shego to go on while the noise encouraged Kim to keep up what she was doing.

Shego dropped her hand from Kim's face and moved it back to Kim's torso. She began caressing Kim through the cloth of her kimono. The redhead noted that it felt good to be touched as she was, so she thought that Shego might like it too and she felt it was only right to return the favor. She reached out for Shego's chest and began stroking her in return. Shego was caught by surprise a second time and she would have said something smart about it, but at the moment, her mouth was much too busy to say something.

The green-skinned woman was coherent enough to realize that she could probably get away with touching some skin now. Her hand went back to the inside of the kimono and began going for the wraps around Kim. The redhead pulled back again, but it was only to catch her breath. Shego did not care about catching her breath. Air did not matter to the moss-hued warrior at the moment and she occupied her time by going for Kim's neck.

Kim could feel the hand going for her torso, but she did not try to stop it that go 'round. The reason that she did not cease it was because she considered that it might be as pleasant as the actions that they had just done and that thought was trumping everything at the moment, including the worries that she earlier. She was not even sure why she had had such problems now. So, she let Shego work, much to Shego's delight.

Shego managed to get the wraps down just enough for her to be satisfied and she went in for a closer inspection. She trailed kisses down Kim's throat and to her collar bone. Kim's arms wrapped around Shego's shoulders of their own accord, making sure to hold the pale warrior close and keeping the contact close.

Shego did not need any encouragement, but it was good to know that Kim was enjoying her actions and was not anxious about what was happening. She leaned Kim down onto the wooden floor, figuring that she could do a better job of investigating if she did not have to hold Kim up. The redhead did not protest to being put down. She was just waiting to see what Shego was going to do next and the older woman did not disappoint.

The emerald-eyed female positioned herself over Kim where she was between Kim's legs. Her mouth remained on Kim's torso and began mapping out its own path across the flesh that it finally got the chance to taste. It did not matter to her that Kim had not bathed in at least in the past day as far as she knew. She still enjoyed every inch that she got experience.

Shego continued her exploration and she came to one small mound. The size did not matter to her. She kissed the inside of the mound while her hand kneaded the outside of flesh; Kim squirmed and shuddered in pleasure underneath her. Her thumb wandered to the peak of the flesh and began to circle around the apex point, causing the body part to spring to life. The redhead cried out and began to wiggle some more, seeming to want more contact. Shego had no problem obliging.

Shego moved her mouth to area that Kim seemed to want touched more, latching onto the small gem. Kim hissed in pleasure as the contact was made. Tears gathered in her olive eyes as the pale woman pressed on, adding more suction. Kim wanted to reach up and hold Shego's head to her, but she controlled herself. She did clench her hands into tight fists and lightly banged on the floor. She had not known it was possible for something to feel so good physically.

The pale woman glanced up, just to see Kim's reaction. It would seem that she had won that round because Kim was at her mercy. Something strange, but familiar shot through her as she realized she had control of the only person to defeat her in battle. Whatever that jolt was, it went straight to the one place she really did not need it to go because now she had to figure out how to relieve _that_ desire with Kim.

Shego did the first thing that came to mind, she rolled her hips forward, rubbing against Kim's body since she was situated in between the redhead's legs. She suspected that the friction would do something for her. She was not sure about how much the friction would do for her, but she just needed something. It felt much better than she expected and she practically convulsed just from that simple action. Kim gasped.

"Wha-what was that?" Kim asked in a breathless manner, referring to the sensation that had just gone through her because of the rubbing.

"Interesting," Shego replied because it was just that. She had not expected that to work, but hell, since it did, she was going to continue on. She was thankful that it did work since it did not seem like her attraction was quite as misplaced as some might like her to believe. Apparently, there was enough in place for them to be physically intimate and get a great deal of pleasure from it.

The pale woman repeated her actions and found it to be just right again and again. It was not a fluke or anything. That was really good news because it meant that they would be able to connect physically as well as any other way that they had already; ways that Shego hated to admit since she was supposed to grumpy and misanthropic.

Once Shego was certain that the movements were not some mistake, but actually quite satisfying, she went back to what she had been doing before. Kim practically screamed when Shego went back to work on her breast while making sure to keep up the motion of her hips. More tears gathered and fell from the samurai's eyes, which she had closed tightly because of the ecstasy coursing through her. She had never felt anything quite like it.

Without her knowledge, Kim's hips began moving to meet with Shego's to create more friction. Shego had to stop her attention to Kim's chest because she could not focus on doing more than one thing now because of the bliss brought on by the motion. She began panting and dropped her head, resting it against Kim's throat. She noticed where she was after a few seconds and kissed Kim's neck.

Shego then moved her head up and decided to kiss Kim's mouth. Kim eagerly returned the kiss. They both had the same idea to open their mouths and engage in another tongue dual. Every now and then, one of them would cry out into the other's mouth because of the fantastic feelings coursing through them. Suddenly, Kim shuddered underneath Shego and the pale woman knew all too well what happened. She continued on, hoping to reach her own climax. While Kim was recovering from falling over the edge, Shego gasped and began trembling. They both took sometime to catch their breath before turning their attention back to each other.

"That was amazing," Shego commented and she placed a small peck on Kim's lips.

"Yeah," Kim agreed with a tired smile. "Exhausting too."

Shego nodded in agreement. It was workout. She fell to her side and lay on her back. She grabbed Kim to rest on top of her. Kim made herself comfortable against Shego and closed her eyes, not sure if she was just resting or going to fall asleep. Shego closed her eyes too and her last conscious thought was that they were going to have to do that again with nothing between them next time. And then when they woke up, they found that the rain had stopped.

* * *

1: Baka yaro: stupid bastard.

2: baka: fool.

* * *

Next time: the pair leave the cabin and go get into some trouble.


	18. Into town they go

I don't own these characters.

18: Into town they go

The seemingly endless rain had finally halted. The mighty, grey clouds began to make way for the once again powerful sun to come through. The light intruded on the little world that Kim and Shego had built for themselves that morning in the small, wooden shelter. The two warriors glanced at the window as the sun made itself known, even though they both had hoped that it would just rain on. The world could have drowned in the downpour for all they cared as long as they could have stayed where they were.

The rain had been their ally, their friend. It had allotted them the chance to spend the night together, not to mention the morning. Now, the sun had chased their excuse away, like a dog after a cat. They sighed, hating the sun for the moment and missing the rain.

"Well, I guess it's time to leave," Shego commented, trying her best to sound normal and she was doing a semi-decent job at that. She actually would not mind leaving if they were just going in search of better accommodations, but the fact that they were going to be going back to Edo bothered her, of course.

"Yeah, I guess," Kim agreed with a sigh. What was about to be done bothered her too, especially after realizing that she had feelings for the super-powered warrior.

The two sat up; Shego had been lying on her back and Kim had been on top of her. The redhead moved off of Shego and started to fix her garments. Shego turned her attention to the outside, staring at the door as if she was trying to will the rain to start again. The sounds of the birds coming out let her know that was not going to happen.

"Shimatta," Shego quietly cursed, hating the birds now to go along with detesting the sun.

"Did you say something?" Kim asked.

"No. Let's get going," the raven-haired woman suggested.

An expression of reluctance washed over Kim's face. She knew that she now had to walk Shego to her possible death back home. It crushed her on the inside. She had saved the woman once and that was before she even ready to admit to herself that she cared about the former bodyguard as more than a friend. Now, she had spent the night in Shego's arms, exchanged kisses, and had even done something that seemed rather intimate, even though it was also bizarre and they had been dressed. Could she really just walk someone that she cared about into the jaws of the Shogun? She doubted it.

"It'll be all right," Shego tried to assure Kim when she noticed the redhead's expression. She cupped Kim's face with one hand as a reassuring gesture, but she could see that was not enough. She leaned in and placed a lingering peck to Kim's lips. "It'll be all right," she repeated.

"How?" the redheaded samurai asked in disbelief.

"It just will. I made you a promise, so let's go. Besides, we can't spend the rest of our lives in this little hovel. Eventually, we're going to need to bathe," the older woman remarked with a smirk.

Kim laughed a bit herself. They were going to need to bathe and soon. They were both wearing a couple of days' worth of filth. There was their battle sweat, getting caught in the rain, hanging out in a cave for about half a day, and their morning activities bringing on a different sort of sweat. They smelled and looked like they could use a thorough cleaning followed by a relaxing bath. They could also use something to eat, but they were both more concerned about getting clean than filling their empty bellies.

"We can't stay here forever," Shego pointed out.

"I know," Kim replied and she climbed to her feet. The elder female followed suit. They walked to the door together and stepped out into the accursed sunlight. They were on their way. Even though they were not sure what it was, they both assured themselves that they had a future and they were walking toward it, not leaving behind the only chance that they would have to be together and that was why neither of them suggested going in the opposite direction.

* * *

"Ah, damn it, is that a checkpoint?" Shego asked as she stared up the dirt path that she and Kim were on. In the distance, she could see the line already. So close to a bath and she had to deal with a check point? What had she done to deserve such a cruel fate!

"It does look like a checkpoint," Kim agreed, looking up ahead of them too. She knew that as soon as they found a decent road they were going to have to hit a checkpoint, but she did not think that it was so soon. She had hoped that a village would be on the road before a checkpoint, so that they could at least get clean.

"I hate those things," Shego commented with a huff. She wished that she could just enter a town and not have to be subjected to an inspection like she was some kind of dog. The inspections were rather outlandish in her opinion too, which might explain why she never bothered with them.

"Do you have papers?" the redhead asked curiously.

Shego actually laughed rather hard, as if that was great joke. Did she have any papers? Like she went through checkpoints anyway. She was a free-spirited rebel; of course, she did not have any papers.

"You can go through the checkpoint if you want. I'll see you inside the town if that's the case," the pale woman said.

"What do you mean?" Kim inquired.

"I don't have a passport, Princess. I get around illegally more often than not," Shego pointed out.

"How do you manage that?"

"I could show you if you want," Shego remarked, even though she was fairly certain that if Kim wanted to cheat the system, she would have no problem doing it. It was not like the redhead was stupid or anything.

"I'd rather just go through the checkpoint. It's less of a hassle," the younger woman commented.

"You'd like to think so. When was the last time you went through a checkpoint?" Shego asked in a skeptical tone. The paper system was more complex and annoying than it had ever been and she tried to always avoid it.

"Not too long ago. It's not too troubling. My papers are pretty specific, so I don't get harassed much," Kim replied.

Shego shrugged because she did not have anything else to respond with. She would not be surprised if officials did not let Kim by just because they might be scared that she was a fox spirit. She wondered just how specific Kim's passport was, but she figured if it mentioned her redhead hair and green eyes then Kim really should not be bothered. Only a real asshole would look for more than that in her opinion.

"Well, I'll see you inside," Shego said.

Kim nodded and the pair parted ways as they came to the inspection line. The redhead was a bit surprised by the number of people going into the town. Usually, when she came to an inspection post, there was just her and Ron if he came along with her on a mission. She decided not to think about it, though. She just wanted to get the process over and done with it. Sure, it was less of a hassle than sneaking into the town, but it was still a hassle.

* * *

Shego looked around the town as she waited around for Kim. She figured that it might take Kim a while to get in. She believed that the younger woman should have just come with her. It had been far from difficult to get in around the checkpoint and into the town; she bet that it would not have been any harder with two people than it had been with just herself. She supposed that she could try to spot some places of interest for her and her companion, like some place to get clean and a restaurant worth eating at.

As she thought about eating, her stomach grumbled. She was really hungry because she had not eaten the day before Kim came looking for her too. She had not expected for someone to catch her so quickly. The petite redhead was just full of surprises.

So, she went around the town, looking for their necessities for the moment. She spotted a restaurant and went in to see what kind of food they served. She was not too interested in those things and as she exited the place, she was nearly mowed down by what looked like a cart, but it was not being pulled by anyone or any animal.

"What the hell?" Shego muttered as the strange device rocketed down the street. What the hell was that thing and why the hell did it nearly kill her?

The raven-haired female stared down the road, maybe hoping to catch a glimpse of the contraption that nearly hit her or the people that were in it. There were a couple of people inside the thing and if Shego had gotten a better look at them, she would have made sure to remember their faces to beat them up later. They had gone by too fast for her to see exactly what they looked like, though.

Shego decided to dismiss her anger at the pair that had nearly run her over since she could not do anything about them for the moment and she was still rather hungry. She continued on her search and found another restaurant almost immediately. She went to go see what they were serving and did not find that menu too pleasing either. She frowned; was it too much to ask for a decent meal now that she was within inches of several restaurants? It would seem so.

"Shego-chan!" Kim called in a rather loud voice.

Shego turned around to see what the redhead was hollering about and she saw Kim dashing toward her at a rather impressive speed. She arched an ebony eyebrow and noted that there was a group of five men trailing behind Kim. Oh, it would seem that the redhead got into some trouble at the inspection post. Yeah, big surprise there, Shego thought sarcastically.

"What did you do?" Shego inquired as Kim ran by her and grabbed her to run along.

"The inspector looked at my papers and then looked at me and called me a liar, saying I wasn't the person being described," the younger woman replied while checking behind them to see how close those guards were.

"So?" the pale woman asked as they cut into an alley, hoping that it would help them lose the guys behind them.

"He kept calling me a liar and I started arguing with him over because it's pretty clear that my passport is describing me. I mean, long red hair, green eyes, hakama, and three swords on her hip? That's me, but he kept arguing and then he put his hands on me and, well, let's just say he should wake up by tomorrow morning," the olive-eyed samurai explained.

Shego laughed a bit and smiled. She figured that the guy got what was coming to him and she bet that he would learn to watch his tongue the next time he was confronted by a petite female samurai. They turned around to check and see if they were still being followed and saw that they were. They glanced at each other and seemed to be hit by the same idea. They ran out onto the street and into another alley. The men were still chasing them and followed them into the alley.

By the time the men made it to the end of the alley, they noticed that they had lost one of the girls that they had been chasing. The good thing was that they had gotten the one that they wanted, though. Kim was standing at the mouth of the alley, looking rather confident for a young lady that was about to be arrested and probably sent into forced servitude for carrying inaccurate papers; inaccurate according to the man in charge of the checkpoint anyway.

"You guys are about the dumbest people I've had the pleasure of beating up," Shego remarked, which caused the men to turn around.

The quintet of fellows was surprised to see Shego blocking the other end of the alley. They did not think about it too much since they out numbered the females and, well, the pair were females too. They did silently admit that the smirk on Shego's face was rather chilling, though.

"You guys are going to have to learn to look before you leap," Shego taunted the men as she and Kim started taking methodical steps toward the guys.

"Just give it up and you won't get hurt," one of the men informed the ladies.

"I wish I could make the same promise," the pale woman commented, still smirking like a devil.

Kim hoped that Shego was not going to hurt the guys too much. After all, the guys were just doing their jobs and she really just wanted them to stop chasing her. The duo went at the men in a flash. The guys barely had time to put their hands up before Kim had her foot in a fellow's throat and Shego had her fist on a guy's cheek. The two guys that were hit flew past each other and exited the alley on opposite ends. They skidded across the dirt and did not move at all when they finally came to a halt. They were definitely unconscious and they were probably going to be out for the rest of the day.

The other three guys were in shock by what just happened and they were caught off guard because of their surprise. They really could not believe that anyone, let alone women were capable of such feats of strength. Kim and Shego just went into action again, not even bothering to note how amazed their opponents seemed to be.

Kim went in for a combination on a guy, working his face over with a few well-placed punches. Shego went in for the body of another guy, doing the same as Kim once she made contact. The last one drew his sword just in time because Kim and Shego turned to him as his partners fell limply the ground. He held his katana tightly, but he did not know who to face, especially since they were standing opposite him. A lone, nervous bead of sweat fled down his cheek.

"Well, well, well, and there was one," Shego commented with an amused smile on her face as she cracked her knuckles.

"Stay back," he ordered them, aiming his weapon in between them since he did not know who to face.

"I'd rather not," Shego said, her smile changing into something more demonic by the second.

"Be careful," Kim cautioned Shego. She could see the official's hand trembling as he held his katana.

Shego waved her companion off. She saw the same shiver. It was dangerous to tangle with a guy that did not know how to handle such a deadly weapon in such an enclosed space. She did not care. She liked to take a chance and maybe teach an idiot a lesson about drawing weapons that he did not want to use.

"I think he should be careful. He could hurt someone with that thing," the green-skinned female remarked with a daring smirk and she took a step toward him.

"Keep away," he commanded in a shaky voice.

"I don't think I want to," Shego said while holding up a clawed hand, as if taunting the frightened fellow, showing him what he would soon be on the receiving end of.

The man gulped and then gasped. He fell forward. While he had been so focused on Shego, Kim hit in the back of the head. He hit the ground like a limp sack and Shego laughed. That had certainly been amusing.

"Wow, you need to get in trouble more often," the green-skinned woman remarked, still smiling up a storm.

"I don't think so. I wouldn't have had this problem if the stupid inspector just accepted my passport," Kim replied.

"I guess that's one way of putting it. You're one tough number, huh?" Shego said, laughing at her own rhetorical question. She was now in a very good mood, finding out that her companion was not only cute, but fun too, and she had gotten to fool around with some incompetent guards that had hopefully learned a lesson.

Kim laughed a little too. She was happy to see Shego in such a good mood. She was used to a more somber, laidback Shego from when they were at the teahouse. She was also glad to see what Shego looked like when she was somewhat jovial since she had only just recently been able to see Shego's entire face. They walked out of the alley, smiling as if nothing happened and leaving the five men unconscious where they lay.

"So, what do you say we go get something to eat?" Shego suggested.

Kim stomach responded to that question by growling loudly. The redhead put her hands over her belly and looked sheepish because of the noise. Shego chuckled a bit and she put her arm around Kim's shoulder, leading her off to find a restaurant. They both quietly noted that they liked how they were situated.

It did not take too long for them to find an eatery with a menu that Shego was not opposed to. They ordered some lunch and went to a table in the small establishment. They both looked rather grateful for the hot food and folded their hands over the food for a moment before declaring a hearty "itadakimasu," (1) grabbing their chopsticks, and digging in. The food tasted better than either could have imagined. They had been hungrier than they were letting on, but they were not really hiding it anymore considering how quickly and much they were devouring.

They were distracted from their meals for a moment as they heard some strange noises coming from outside. They glanced over to where the entrance of the restaurant was and noticed some movement out there. They both decided that it did not have anything to do with them and turned back to their food, continuing their feast.

The noise from outside stopped and a large blonde man entered the restaurant. He was wearing a tethered blue uwagi (2) with the sleeves torn off in a rather sloppy fashion. The fact that he had no sleeves showed off a tattoo on his shoulder, which meant that he was probably yakuza (3). He had on zubon (4) that were a bluish grey. The uwagi was tied closed, but only loosely and his wide chest was revealed. He had a pair of geta (5).

His blonde hair was wild and fell below his shoulders. He had sienna brown mustache and black beady eyes. He looked around the restaurant, but he stopped completely when his eyes caught sight of two fine ladies. His mouth practically dropped to the floor when he saw them. It must have been his lucky day, he concluded.

He ran his hand over his hair, as if he was fixing it, but that had not done the untamed yellow mane much good. He then marched over to the ladies while his short sidekick entered the restaurant. The blonde walked to the females table and stood there for a moment. They did not pay him any mind until he had the nerve to his hand down on their table, cutting into their mealtime and coming close to squashing some fresh buns that they had just ordered. They looked up at him; Kim looked curious while Shego was borderline furious.

"Can we help you?" Shego demanded to know while planning to stab him in the hand with one of her chopsticks if his finger got any closer to her soup bowl, which still had soup in it that she planned on finishing.

"Totally. The name's Ed, seriously," he informed them, as if they were going to call that into doubt, and he pointed to his name on his shoulder.

"What's that for, in case you forget?" Shego inquired about the reason that he would tattoo his own name onto his shoulder.

"They call me Motor Ed," he continued on, unaffected by the snide remark from the upset-looking female. She would be surprised if he even understood the insult.

"Am I supposed to be impressed? Get the hell away from us. Can't you see we're trying to eat?" Shego pointed out.

"Whoa, babe, you are totally hot, seriously," Motor Ed commented with a smile.

"Motor?" Kim echoed. She was searching her mind for the word in her vocabulary. Having a father that was an engineer and brothers that were inventors, she had pretty wide range of knowledge and the word sounded a little familiar, but she could not place it yet and she really did not want to at the moment. She just wanted to go back to eating.

"Yeah, motor. You want to see my wheels?" the blonde offered, looking charming in his opinion, but it was closer to creepy in their opinions.

"No, she doesn't. Leave her the hell alone," Shego ordered, quickly growing to hate the blonde. She was offended that he would talk to her companion right in front of her, even though he did not know what Kim was to Shego. Hell, Shego did not even know what Kim was to her. She just knew that she did not like the big blockhead talking to Kim, trying to take her some place to see anything.

"It won't take too long, Aka (6), seriously," Motor Ed commented.

Shego looked extra offended and quite vexed now. She scowled deeply and made an angry fist at the nerve to of the blonde, accidentally snapping her utensils in half before of her grip on them. Kim noticed the expression and smiled to herself; Shego was jealous. It made her feel good about herself for some reason, but she was going to calm the situation, so Shego did not have to wipe the floor with the upfront blonde.

"That's okay. I'd rather finish my lunch," Kim replied with a bright smile, hoping that it would get him to leave them alone.

"Come on, it's just outside, seriously. I bet you never seen nothing like it, seriously," the large man boasted.

"That's all right," she stated again, continuing to smile so lightly that she probably would rival the sun's shine.

Motor Ed did not seem to like that answer too much. He leaned down to Kim, invading her space as far as she and her cohort were concerned. Shego frowned at how close he was getting to her companion. He seemed to be about to reach out for Kim. Before the redhead could act, Shego grabbed him by the shoulder. She dug her claw-like nails into his body, cutting through his uwagi and wounding the top of his shoulder. He groaned and turned his attention to her.

"I'd leave her alone if I were you. Now, she doesn't want to see whatever wheels you have and she does want to finish her lunch, so leave her the hell alone," Shego ordered and she pushed Motor Ed away with a strength that he did not expect.

The blonde flew across the room and landed on a table, busting it. He held his head, which was pounding now because that was what he had landed on. His short sidekick ran to his side as soon as he hit the table.

"Aniki (7)!" the short, ebony-haired male shouted as he went to Motor Ed, who sat up. "Are you okay, aniki?" the sidekick inquired.

"Yeah, I'm fine, seriously," Motor Ed answered while turning his attention back to the two ladies.

Shego glared at Motor Ed, as if daring him to come back for more and give her an excuse to tear his whole face off. Kim only smiled, like a mischievous imp, seeming to hope that he did come back for more. Motor Ed did consider it. He even smiled a bit to let them know that he would take them up on their challenge.

"Hey! What's going on out here?" the restaurant owner hollered as he came to the front of the restaurant to see damage done to his table.

Motor Ed decided to bide his time. He got up and tried to appease the outraged restaurant owner because he did not want to hear his voice. When it obvious that the man was not going to stop yelling, Motor Ed figured that it would just be better for him to leave to not have to hear the man squawking anymore.

"Hey, Aka-chan, I'll see you around, seriously," Motor Ed commented before leaving the eatery with his sidekick.

Shego frowned deeply; he would see the samurai again over her dead body. Kim smiled again because of the fact that Shego was jealous, even though the slim samurai had no interest in Motor Ed whatsoever. The pale woman took note of the expression and took offense to it. What was the redhead smiling about anyway? Did she like the attention from that yellow-haired monkey?

"What the hell are you looking like that for? Did you want to go with the dumb monkey?" Shego demanded to know.

Kim laughed a bit and shook her head to disagree. "It's nothing like that at all. I just think it was sweet how you stood up for me like that."

Shego was taken aback by that answer and a blush crept into her face because of that. She had done something that Kim thought was sweet? Something like that should not have even mattered to her, she thought, but that was not the case when it came to Kim. She had never done anything as far as she knew that was sweet in anyone's opinion and she had never cared to until that moment. She was flattered by the thought of being sweet in Kim's eyes. It was a rather strange feeling, but she liked it and she hoped that she could do more sweet things for the younger warrior.

"Let's just finish our lunch. We do have to find some place to clean up and everything too," Shego pointed out, hoping to get control back from the emotions that poked out thanks to Kim calling her actions sweet.

Kim nodded in agreement with that. They turned their attention back to their lunch and finished the meal after Shego got some more chopsticks. They then went in search of some place to get the days worth of grime off of their bodies. They could not wait to get clean.

They eventually made their way to a hotel, figuring that it would not hurt to have a place to relax. They were in no real hurry. Besides, having a room to themselves would give them some place to try what they did in the cabin again. Maybe it would give them a chance to figure out just what they were to each other too. Plus, there was a hot spring bath at the hotel, not that it mattered to Shego since she could heat up just about anything she felt like.

The pair did agree to lounge in the bath for a while after they got clean. Shego was ready first and went out into the water. She sighed as she settled into the piping hot liquid. It felt rather good, she silently admitted. It was a good suggestion from Kim because while she could heat anything up at will, she could not add the minerals that were in the water, which helped make the bath relaxing.

"Where the hell is she?" Shego wondered. It had only been a few seconds, but she was actually pretty anxious to see Kim in a state of undress.

Kim was still getting out of her clothes. She had to fold everything properly, so she was still folding her kimono, which left her still wearing the bindings around her torso and her hakama; yes, she took the kimono off before the hakama because she liked having her swords on her until the last possible moment. She then suddenly tensed up; something was wrong.

The redhead turned around, making sure to be on alert. She had her hands up ready to fight, but she could already tell how things were going to go. She was in an enclosed space and then she was suddenly surrounded. She wondered what was going on now while trying to figure out if she would be able to draw her short sword, but she doubted it. There was not even enough room for that.

"Hey, Aka-chan, how about coming to see my wheels now, seriously?" Motor Ed inquired as he stepped forward, showing that he was responsible for what was happening.

All Kim could think was how it was funny that she had no idea that monkeys could come up with such good plans. She then had to defend herself as several men came at her from all angles and because of the limited space with so many opponents, she was quickly subdued. They bound and gagged her after just piling up on her and immobilizing her.

"Well, let's get moving, seriously," Motor Ed commented and his men dragged Kim along. She said something to him through her gag, which he thought he understood. "Don't worry, Aka-chan, the demon woman you're with isn't going to save you this time, seriously," he promised her.

Little did he know, Kim was not saying anything about Shego coming to her rescue. She was making promises of her own, promises that Motor Ed was going to regret kidnapping her. She was going to make him regret it herself, personally, and very, very soon.

* * *

1: Itadakimasu: I am about to partake (civility exchanged before meal).

2: Uwagi: jacket.

3: Yakuza: hoodlum, gangster.

4: Zubon: pants.

5: Geta: wooden sandals.

6: Aka: red.

7: Aniki: big brother.

* * *

Next time: the reactions of Kim and Shego to Motor Ed's bold moves.


	19. Fire

I don't own these characters.

A/N: there's a pic on my profile by Yogurth; it's based on the fight scene between Kim and Shego.

19: Fire

Kim certainly was taking a long time, Shego thought as she looked around the bath. She and Kim had agreed to stay at a hotel and take a bath together; it would be a great way to relax. She had come out first and now she was waiting for Kim. She had been out there for almost five minutes. How long could it possibly take one small female to get undressed and neatly put her things away?

The green-skinned female decided that it was taking much too long for Kim to get out of her things. She got up from the bath and wandered back to the changing space stark naked, unaware of any possible chill in the air. She poked her head into the area.

"Hey, Princess," Shego called as soon as she was looking into the room and then she noticed that the whole place was empty.

The pale woman arched an eyebrow in curiosity mixed with confusion. Where was Kim? She then noticed the kimono on the floor, crumpled and in a heap. Well, it was clear that she did not go anywhere of her own freewill without her kimono because that just would not make any sense. Why would she leave partially dressed? She could only think of one reason and she disliked it.

"Damn it," Shego silently cursed and she went to get dressed. When she found whoever it was that took her…whatever Kim was to her…she was going to make that person pay by breaking every bone plausible in that person's body. She figured that Kim had been stolen out of the room because of the abandoned kimono.

She had to get dressed before doing anything, though. She grabbed her kimono and hakama, glad that she did not bother to fold her clothes in some special manner so she could throw them on as rapidly as possible. She had an idea as to who it was that took Kim, but even with the idea in mind, she was well aware that she would still have to find that big monkey. She hoped that people around the town were not tightlipped about things or she was going to have to be very mean to people.

* * *

Kim was both pissed and intrigued. She was unbelievably angry with the fact that she had been kidnapped by Motor Ed and his gang. Not to mention the fact that it happened while she was not wearing a top. She was lucky to not lose her hakama considering the fact that she had untied her obi, but tied it back because she had the habit of keeping it on while she folded her kimono because she liked keeping her swords at her side until the very last moment. She supposed that odd quirk had saved her further embarrassment and she was thankful for that.

Now, she was intrigued because Motor Ed and his gang had some rather curious looking devices that they were using to make their getaway. They were like carts, but they were not tugged along by anything. They ran on their own power. She was willing to beat that they were some sort of clockwork machines, but she could not figure out how they were going. She was going to have to tell her brothers about it when she got home, if they did not get on her nerves anyway. Yes, even she could be civil to those little tweebs, but only if they could be the same. If she got home and they were trying to steal her pickles at breakfast again, they were going to get her fists and that was about it.

She and her brothers had a strange siblings' relationship. They always tried to act like they normally did no matter what, even if Kim was gone from home for a long period of time. Sure, she missed them and they missed her, but when she got home, they never acted like it. They always went back to business as usual as quickly as possible and they liked it that way. It was the best way that they knew how to get along and they just wanted to fall back into their routine to be sure that everything was right in the world as far as they were concerned.

"Well, Aka-chan, we're going to have a good time with you, seriously," Motor Ed declared, throwing off his prisoner's thoughts.

Kim rolled her eyes. She was positioned behind the blonde and his sidekick, who was handling the steering of the vehicle. She scanned around to take a head count of how many people Ed was running with just to know what she was going to have to deal with in a moment. As far as she could see there were six vehicles and each had two people in them, not counting the vehicle that she was in.

Well, that just meant that there were fourteen chumps for her to take out. Fourteen was nothing in her opinion in an open space, especially if the group was not too bright. She doubted that she was amongst geniuses considering the fact that they had bound her arms around her back and gagged her, but not an idiot among them thought to take her swords. She was rather pleased that they had not taken her swords or that would have been more trouble than she needed at the moment.

She looked around to get a feel for the environment to see if it was suitable for combat. They were out of the town, but on a slightly wide road. There were some trees around, but not enough to be considered a forest, and those were a few feet away from the road. The land between the road and the trees was flat and covered by grass from what she could see. There was a bright moon out that night, which would make it easy to see her when she decided to make her move, but that did not matter to her. The ground around her was really all that mattered to her. That was good enough for her to start some trouble, she figured.

The redheaded samurai decided that she did not want to see where they were going to take her. She would rather get back to Shego and their bath as soon as she could. She was curious and eager to see what things were like between her and Shego in a more normal setting. And Motor Ed had put a delay on that, which was rather irritating.

Kim took her legs and brought them as close to as she could. She then slid her arms underneath her feet and brought them to the front of her. She then unsheathed her short sword slightly, just enough to cut her ropes. She snapped her bounds away from her wrists and then pulled her wakazashi (1) from its scabbard. She put the point of her blade at Motor Ed's back and that caused him to jump in surprise.

"However you stop this thing, do it now," Kim ordered in completely livid tone.

"Whoa, Aka-chan has bite, seriously," Motor Ed remarked with a strangely pleased smirk. It was like he was happy to have the sword at his back.

"What do you want me to do, aniki?" the sidekick asked curiously. He was a bit panicked about having an armed and angry woman behind them with a sword in her hands, but then again the boss seemed to be calm about it, so that eased his nerves.

"Show her our moves, seriously," the blonde answered with an arrogant glint in his eyes.

"All right, aniki," the sidekick replied with a smirk of his own. It was time to show the girl what for, he thought.

Kim yelped in surprise as the vehicle jerked violently to the side. She almost lost her balance, but she did maintain it, only for the vehicle to go to the opposite side. She quickly sheathed her sword as she almost fell off of the vehicle. Just as she thought that she would be safe, the vehicle wrenched again, much more violently than before, and she was thrown off.

Motor Ed and his people laughed as Kim went flying. She righted herself in the air and landed in a kneeling position. She skidded along the ground, putting her hand down in hope of slowing herself down. She looked up to make sure that she knew were Motor Ed and his gang were. She learned that they were turning around.

It would seem that they wanted to play, she noted. If they wanted to play, she would oblige them. It was not like she enjoyed being kidnapped. It actually did a number on her self-esteem more often than not and she would enjoy getting back at them for that. She smirked like a hunting cat as they started coming back toward her.

* * *

Shego was now in a quiet panic because she had been searching for Kim for nearly an hour and not getting any closer to her goal. She had never felt so anxious so quickly before in her life. She was not sure what to make of it, but she pressed on like she always did. She was going to have her way, she told herself.

The hotel keeper had not seen Kim leave, nor had he seen Motor Ed or anyone suspicious at all. The pale woman had never felt the way that she did now, not even on the many occasions that she had lost Drakken; he was so easy to misplace. She would guess that Kim being kidnapped would affect her differently than Drakken being captured by whoever it was they were pissing off at the time, but she did not think that it would be as bad as it was. She could not even describe what she was feeling at the moment, but she did not like it.

Shego could not breathe right thanks to the feeling, she knew that much. Her chest just felt constricted and her stomach felt as if it had descended into her feet. Her guts were tying themselves in and out of knots. Her limbs seemed like they were ready to fail her at any given moment and she felt so close to crying that it was made her realize that she had forgotten what it felt like to cry.

It had been a long, long time since something, let alone someone, caused her to cry. But, right now, thinking of what might have happened to Kim was tearing her up inside. Did that odd little samurai mean so much to her, she asked herself. She did not even have an idea what that even meant. How could a person that was not related to her in anyway mean so much to her as to spark physical responses in her that she could barely remember being able to feel? She hardly even knew Kim, she tried to tell herself to at least get herself to calm down. What good was she to Kim if she was a nervous-wreck while looking for the redhead?

She tried her best not to think about what Motor Ed might be doing with her darling little princess. Surely, Kim would be able to fight him off if he tried anything, she tried to assure herself. Kim had defeated her in a fight after all, she reminded herself. But, what if he had men with him? What if they helped Ed—Stop it, she commanded herself. That was not going to happen. She refused to let happen.

She went out into the streets and asked the people in the town about that blonde monkey. People knew Motor Ed; they knew him fairly well from what she could tell. They all described him as a weird yakuza leader because he created some sort of cart that drove itself and he had one for every member of his gang. She could care less than nothing about the man's crazy hobbies. She wanted to know where he spent his time when he was not in the town showing off the fact that he was nuts. No one had an absolute answer for that one, even though they knew so much about him.

"Damn it," Shego cursed aloud while standing in the middle of the street and just wondering what way she should go. Where had Motor Ed taken her Kim?

Her heart began pounding even worse than before as confusion started to take over her body. She started to walk in one direction, only to turn around and go in the opposite direction. She did that several times before she realized that she was not getting anywhere. She stopped and took a deep breath to gather herself.

Okay, first, she asked herself what it was that she was getting so worked up about. It did not make any sense, she told herself, that she was nearly going out of her mind with worry over the missing redhead. She did not know Kim that well outside of whatever they had done and discussed when they were at the teahouse. But, she reminded herself that she had revealed layers of herself that no other being on the planet had seen. Of course, there was more to show, but she had started.

She had taken Kim to her special place on the hill. She had never shown that spot to anyone, not her parents, not her brothers, not even her close friends. It had been nice to have company there. She had always assumed that company would ruin her favorite place, as if other human life would soil her hollowed grounds. But, that had not been the case and she took Kim there on more than one occasion because the redhead seemed to only make the place more enjoyable.

Thinking about that was not helping Shego much. She only started to panic more so as she thought about what she had shown Kim and told her that the samurai did mean quite a bit to her. It just made her think that she needed to find Kim all the more and she was not getting anywhere by just standing there and thinking.

"Okay, if I was a big, stupid blonde monkey with obvious good taste in women, but horrible judgment, where would I go?" Shego asked herself. She was only slightly pleased that she could not come up with an answer to that question since it proved that there was not a part of her that could fathom being brain-dead.

She decided to take to the rooftops, considering that having a bird's eye view might improve her chances of finding some sign of Motor Ed and his crew or at least a sign of Kim. Her eyes were keen, but they were not seeing anything worthwhile aside for plenty of wheel marks. She would have followed some of those if only she could find out which fresh tracks that she needed to follow. From what she could tell with the trails, those idiots probably just wasted their days riding around on those foolish contraptions, probably drinking while they were at it, she guessed.

Shego sighed. "Why can't it ever be easy?" she begged to know and she was referring to her life. Every time things seemed to be looking up, there was something that had to bring things down.

She did not see anything from the rooftop, so she leaped down and went to inspect the wheel marks again. She could tell the fresh ones from the old ones, but there were plenty of fresh ones, so she did not know which to follow. To make matters worse, she did not know which direction they were coming from.

The pale woman sucked her teeth. She was not going to give up. She decided to leave things up to fate. She would go to Kim if things were meant to be that way. She closed her eyes and spun around in a circle three times. She then began walking off in the new direction that she was facing. It was not the most scientific approach to things, she would admit. But, she trusted her instincts.

* * *

Kim leaped out of the way as Motor Ed and his band drove their vehicles back in her direction for the seventh time. They were having a good time trying to hit her, she noted. She doubted that she would suffer much physical damage if she did get hit from the speed of the things, but the way that they had spikes positioned on the front, she was sure those would give her one hell of a sting.

"I guess I shouldn't let them have all the fun," Kim thought. The redhead began to run at the vehicles that were coming at her.

"She's crazy, seriously!" Motor Ed howled in joy as he watched Kim charge their machines. He laughed, thinking about how funny it was going to be when she realized that she was acting insane and halted herself to avoid getting impaled.

"You should've made these things higher," Kim declared as she leaped into a kick and practically took one of the driver's head clean off thanks to their forces meeting.

The kick landed clean on the driver's cheek and knocked him out just as cleanly. He naturally lost control of the vehicle and veered off of the road right into a tree. His passenger jumped off just in time to miss the impact. It was not particularly hard, but it did send the unconscious driver flying out of the vehicle.

"Whoa," Motor Ed muttered in awe when he saw the slender redhead in action.

"Well, that's one down," Kim commented with a laugh.

She went to go make sure work of the other six vehicles along with the thirteen people left to tangle with. It might be a long night, she considered. That thought was not very pleasant since she really wanted to get back to Shego. Well then, she supposed that she better wrap things up as soon as possible.

The olive-eyed warrior had to leap out of the way of one vehicle and was nearly hit by another when she landed, but she moved just in time. The redhead frowned at the close call. Okay, they wanted to play rough. She could play rough just like them. She drew her katana.

"Thirteen against me, that's so not fair to you guys," Kim remarked in a confident tone as she charged another vehicle.

The driver to that machine challenged her just like the last one. He was met with a kick to the face as well. His passenger also jumped from the ride before it fell into a ditch. Kim met the passenger, though. He was grimacing as soon as he stood up because her foot was buried in his side. As soon as he was set to scream in pain, her fist was on his cheek. He fell to the ground.

"Oh, come on! Somebody hit her, seriously!" Motor Ed ordered his bumbling band since they could not put any metal on the young woman.

"Yeah, somebody hit me, seriously," Kim mocked them with a laugh.

A vehicle turned to mow the cocky samurai down, but she flipped out of the way. Another ride came at her from a different angle and Kim had to jump over it. She took a swing at the driver with her katana and nearly severed his hand from his arm. He screamed in utter agony as blood gushed from his wound, but he did not lose control of the car. She landed behind him.

"You bitch!" the driver raged and he swung the invention around to crush her.

"I guess I pissed him off," Kim muttered to herself as she noticed the vehicle coming back around for a second try.

The redhead doubted that she could be able to build up enough speed to do another kick attack. She quickly thought of a backup plan and leaped into the air as soon as the driver was about to hit her. She managed to connect her knee with his jaw. His head snapped back brutally and he was out like a candle. The ride hit a tree with the passenger exiting before that happened.

"Oh, come on! Seriously, do I have to do everything myself?" Motor Ed demanded to know in anger. He really wanted that girl back now and not out of anger. She was just turning him on with the aggressive display.

"I'm not as easy as I look, huh?" Kim taunted the group as she went to take care of the most recent ride-less gangster. He fell as easily as his comrades.

The remaining thugs were having about just as much attitude as they could bear from the slender redhead. One of them pulled out a weapon that Kim did not expect, a rifle. Once she made it home, she hoped that she was never going to have to see another gun again because heavens knew that she had seen enough from the one trip to last a life time. And then, a shot was fired.

* * *

Shego heard a gunshot. Lord, she was so sick of guns, but she took off toward the sound of the shot. It was in the direction that she was heading anyway, but she was heading there much faster now. She hoped that the shot was not directed at the person that she was looking for, but with her luck, she was willing to bet it was. She just hoped that the shot did not mean something truly bad, like Kim was injured. If Kim was hurt, people were going to taste her plasma at full force and until she just could not sustain the charge anymore, whether there were bits of the assailants left or not.

She caught sight of something in the distance, but she could not make it out completely. She did consider that her eyes might have been fooling her because the first thing that she saw were the vehicles that Motor Ed and his lot was using, but then she saw Kim jumping all over the place. As she got closer to the battlefield, she could see the destruction brought and was willing to bet that Kim was the one that delivered because she saw that some rides were laid out and some thugs were looking worse off than their rides. Kim also did not appear injured at all, so the gunshot had not hit her; it had come damn close, though.

"At least she saved me the big monkey," Shego commented with an amused smirk when she saw that Motor Ed was not beaten up like some of his men.

The pale woman charged into the fight with a predatory smile on her face. She ran right by Kim, who was landing from hopping over a vehicle. The redhead noticed her companion go by her, but did not pay her any mind since she had enemies to take care of and she did not want to almost get shot again. Shego had her sights set on one person and nothing was going to stray her from that path. The vehicle that she wanted was not even paying her any mind and she came in from the side, leading in with a heavy fist.

"Guess who?" Shego snarled as she landed her fist right on the chin of Motor Ed.

"Wha?" the blonde wondered in a dazed tone as the blow forced him out of his invention. He pushed his sidekick out of the way because she had hit him from the passenger side. Both males tumbled as they hit the ground.

Shego ended up in the vehicle and behind the steering wheel. She had no clue what was going on, but she took hold of the wheel. Motor Ed noticed and he looked totally aghast with the image of Shego driving his invention.

"What the hell is this thing?" Shego wondered. "And how the hell do you control it?" she added in a shout as she saw that she was going straight toward another vehicle.

"Ah, that green babe is going to totally wreck my baby, seriously!" Motor Ed griped with a sullen expression in his eyes.

Needless to say, Ed was correct on that matter. Shego drove right into the other vehicle that was in her path. She figured, hey, it was there and she was looking to take down the gang and the vehicle did not mean anything to her. So, why even bother trying to get out of the way, not that she could if she wanted to.

The impact was not harsh, but it did put the vehicles out of commission because they were impaled on each other thanks to the spikes on the front of the contraptions. Shego stood up and kicked the closest guy to her, who was the passenger in the other vehicle. The driver of that vehicle pulled out a pistol and aimed at Shego.

"You might want to look behind you," the green-skinned female comment.

The guy actually turned around instead of pointing out that was the oldest trick in the book. He was met by Kim's fist anyway and knocked out. Shego laughed a bit; he was damned if he did and damned if he did not.

"You've got these guys?" Shego asked Kim.

"Piece of cake," Kim answered with a confidence that Shego silently admitted to liking.

"Then I'm going to give that dumb monkey what for," the pale woman remarked.

Kim laughed a bit and turned her attention back to the remaining gangsters. She still had her long sword in hand, just in case some things tried to be more difficult than others. She also kept a careful eye out to anyone that might have had guns on them. At least they only fired a single shot, she thought. Sure, the shot had been dangerously close to her head, but it could have been worse.

Shego ran right back toward Motor Ed, who was climbing to his feet. He noticed that the green-skinned warrior was coming at him and he pulled a gun out from the inside of his ugawi. He smirked at her and she smirked in return as he aimed the pistol at her.

"It's stupid of you to point that thing at me, just like it was when you took my princess. You're just all around idiotic so far in my opinion," the raven-haired woman informed him.

"I'd totally watch who I call idiotic when someone's pointing a gun at me, seriously," Motor Ed replied.

"Well, that's probably something that makes us different. I hope it's a long, long list. I'm going to add something else to it right now. I'm willing to bet that only one of us can do this." Shego flared her hands with her plasma. "I wonder which one of us it is." She smirked like the demon she knew that she was about to be accused of being.

"What the hell are you, some kind of oni?" Motor Ed demanded to know in a confused tone. He thought that there was something different about her with the green skin, but now she was lighting her hands on fire. He did not understand it, but he was not going to let something that he did not comprehend frighten him.

"To make things easy on your monkey brain, let's say yeah. I'm an oni that you really pissed off by stealing her princess," Shego replied with a bit of a growl.

"I can still, like, totally shoot you, seriously," he pointed out as if he was in total control of the situation.

"I don't think you can," she stated as if she was in complete control of the situation. It would seem that one of them was going to be proven wrong by the end of the standoff.

"What makes you think that, seriously?" he inquired with an arched eyebrow. He thought she was really stupid if she thought that he would not be able to shoot her because he certainly had plans to do so if she did not back off.

"Because I can also do this." Shego flung a plasma sphere at Motor Ed, which surprised him and connected before he had time to totally comprehend what it was.

The blonde male fell to the ground and dropped his pistol. Shego was not done yet. She was way too angry to be done with him yet. He dared tried to take someone that meant quite a bit to her, more to her than she even knew if her earlier panicked reaction meant anything. In her lonely existence, searching for some kind of meaning in her freedom, he dared to take the one person that seemed to offer her something beyond entertainment; it outraged her like nothing else in recent times. She leaned down and proceeded to punch him in the face until he was just stopped moving and his eyes lulled into the back of his head. She had no idea if she killed him or not and she sincerely did not care.

Shego stood up and turned her attention to Kim. The redhead seemed to be having some fun finishing up the few goons that were left. Shego guessed that she had been worried over nothing. Kim had things under control, even with a gun being brought into things. She told herself that she should have had some faith in the redhead. After all, Kim had defeated her.

The olive-eyed samurai used pretty much the same tactic against all of the bad guys, not even having to bother with using her sword on them. They did not seem to learn from their mistakes, she thought. She was not going to complain about that. As soon as she finished off the last guy, she looked around for Shego. She spotted the pale woman standing a few feet away from her, just watching her. Kim smiled, as did Shego and she walked over.

"You are quite impressive," the emerald-eyed woman commented when she was standing directly in front of her companion. She wanted to just take the shorter female into her arms and hug her tightly while placing grateful kisses all over her face, but she refrained because Kim did not seem as overwhelmed as she was. She suspected that she had taken things more seriously than the teen had.

"You should see me when it's a challenge," Kim boasted with a confident smile as she sheathed her weapon back on her hip.

"Impressive and cocky. For some reason, I like these things about you," Shego admitted as if it was nothing.

"So, what should we do now?" the younger warrior asked. They were already down a road and she was pretty sure that it was in the direction that they were heading in, so they could start walking on to the next town.

"What do you mean? We already paid for that hotel room. We're going to live it up while we got it," Shego answered quite seriously. She never let something go to waste once it was paid for.

"Okay, then come on," Kim agreed with that.

Shego nodded and she put her arm around Kim's shoulders. They started walking back toward the town. If Ed and his band of maniacs wanted to go at it again tomorrow, it was fine by them since they were still going to be in town and that was if Ed was still alive. But, for the moment, they were going to have a comforting rest in the hotel room and maybe discuss, or at least ponder, what they were to each other. And maybe, Shego would show her appreciation of Kim being unharmed by those idiots.

* * *

1: wakazashi: short sword.

* * *

Next time: Kim and Shego return to the hotel room and explore just what they are to each other.


	20. Spiritual

I don't own these characters.

20: Spiritual

Kim and Shego returned to their hotel room after a fairly busy evening and it was not busy in a manner that they wanted it to be. They had just had a brush with Motor Ed and his gang. They figured that they taught those clowns a lesson. Hell, Shego might have killed Motor Ed, but she was not too sure and much to her surprise, she did not care. He had taken someone special and dear to her and all that mattered was that he felt her wrath once she got that person back, even though Kim was unharmed and actually kicking butt when Shego arrived. She probably would have reduced him to ashes if something had happened to Kim.

Shego still had hopes that she and Kim would get to some things that she thought they would do before the kidnapping incident since they had gotten the hotel room. They were supposed to share a bath earlier, but thanks to Motor Ed, they started another fight. At least they were on the same side that time and it was rather fun, but she was pretty sure that the other things that they had in mind would have been much better.

The pale woman was little worked up having watched Kim kick some butt. She had not thought that something like an all-out battle could be so hot. She had watched guys kick the crap out of each other in dojos or even on the street and, yes, if she found herself intrigued with one of the guys, the fighting could be somewhat hot. Comparing Kim in combat to the others was like comparing a fish's swimming to a stone's swimming, though. It was not nearly the same thing; it could not even be called the same thing really.

Kim's movements and fighting was the pinnacle of erotic as far as Shego was concerned. She had not thought that anything could be that burning hot and attractive. Well, she did not think that anything could get to her in such a way, anyway. She was rather incredulous to the way that Kim made her feel, even if it was just a lustful feeling at the moment. So, she did hope that they were going to get to try to do some naughty things that night.

Kim was not looking at things in the same way. She was a little embarrassed that she had been kidnapped first of all. She was a masterful samurai and she had been pretty much been stolen by a monkey; it seemed rather pathetic in her opinion. She hoped that Shego did not bring it up or ask questions about anything. She also hoped that what happened did not lower Shego's opinion of her. If the pale woman looked down on her, she was certain that she would feel a lot worse than she did about getting kidnapped.

The redhead was curious as to why she felt that way. Why would Shego looking down on her be just about the worst thing possible to her? What did those feelings mean? She knew that they went beyond friendship, but what were they exactly? She had never felt anything like it and she just wished that she could make sense of the matter, especially since it seemed rather intense. She hated being confused about her own emotions. It was her body and mind, so she should know exactly what was going on in her opinion.

"So…" Shego said, hoping to start a conversation of some kind. Anything that could get her and her companion to stop staring at the plain beige walls of their room.

They seemed at such a loss with each other. Shego wondered if they would ever get back to how they were before when Kim was pretending to be a maiko. Would she ever be able to relax about Kim like she had around Akako-chan? Would she be able to fall asleep in Kim's lap like she had done that night with Akako-chan?

Shego's mouth almost fell open as she thought about that fateful night. The night she could have gotten arrested, but she had fallen asleep after drinking too much sake, sake that the redhead had practically forced upon her. She had missed the raid that night. It was as if that was purposely done. Was it? Had Kim tried to save her from being arrested? She had never considered that and then her thoughts were thrown off as Kim replied to her "so."

"So…" Kim echoed for lack of a better thing to say. She would not mind them talking. She wanted things to seem normal between them, like before at the teahouse where none of their silences were awkward as it was at the moment. She was sure that they could get back to that level of comfort.

"Well, I guess I could ask you about something that was just on my mind. That night back at the teahouse where I fell asleep, did you do that on purpose?" the fire-starter inquired bluntly.

"When you fell asleep? Oh…I guess I did," the redhead sort of admitted. She was not sure why she could not just confirm it because it had been done on purpose. She supposed that she just did not want to explain it because she was not too sure if she would be able to explain it. After all, at the time, she had not even been to admit to herself why she had done it.

"You guess? You either did or you didn't," Shego pointed out.

"Fine, I did," the younger female confessed with a sigh.

And then came the question that Kim did not want to hear. "Why?" Shego inquired.

The redhead sighed and rubbed her forehead. Why had she done it? Well, she had done it because she thought that "yojimbo-san" deserved a second chance because "yojimbo-san" had not seemed totally bad. She thought that as long as "yojimbo-san" was not in the company of those idiotic plotters then there was a chance that something good could happen to the bodyguard as long as "yojimbo-san" remained free. But, there was the question of why she had taken it upon herself to try to save Shego.

"Well," the pale woman pressed. She really wanted to know the reason behind it considering the fact that the teen was actually a spy for the Shogun. Why had a spy helped her?

Kim sighed and rubbed her forehead again, as if that was going to force the answers that they both wanted. She looked Shego in the eyes, like that would give her the answers. Shego was skeptical that it would help, but then it seemed like the sudden realization came to the redheaded samurai.

"Out of everything I told myself for why I did that, I always glanced over the simplest, easiest explanation as to why I did it. I just…I told you the reason actually. I liked you when I thought you were 'yojimbo-san.' I liked you like a woman is supposed to like a man and like I said before, it hasn't gone away. I knew I was going to lose you that night, but I didn't want your life to end, so I tried to protect you, like a woman would try to protect her man. And I still feel that. I'd do it again right now if I had to. Is that strange?" Kim asked curiously. She was not ashamed, even if it turned out to be strange. She could not see a reason to be ashamed of her feelings for Shego because of how wonderful the sensation was.

Shego offered a half-smile as her answer to that question. She realized that Kim worried about her as much as she worried about Kim. She never would have thought that she could worry about someone so much if Motor Ed had not stolen the little redhead away. Kim had tried to save her life; she was flattered.

The pale woman moved closer to Kim; they had been sitting in the room with almost a foot of space between them. She put her arm around the younger fighter and pulled Kim to lean into her. The younger woman did not resist and decided that she liked being held by Shego in any way that was offered. She put her arms around Shego's waist, pressing herself to the green-skinned woman even more.

Kim still wondered what she and Shego were. She was aware that she was attracted to the pale warrior in the way that a woman was supposed to be attracted to a man, but it went beyond that. She had respect for Shego as a warrior and looked at her as a friend too. It was the strangest sensation and it seemed to grow with every second that she spent with Shego, no matter what they were doing. What was the feeling?

Shego was as confused as Kim. She understood her physical attraction to Kim, as she had always been secretly attracted to females, even though her parents tried their best to discourage such a thing. She remembered when she was little and they caught her kissing a girl. The girl was a good friend of hers at the time and they had actually kissed on several occasions; sometimes they got caught and sometimes they did not. Her mother could not believe her eyes while her father had tried to explain as best he could that it was not right for two girls to kiss each other in the manner that they were. No matter how much he explained it, it never fully reached her brain as to what was wrong with what she had done. She had tried her best to hide it since her parents thought that it was wrong and she had done things with men, but always her original attraction lay underneath her skin apparently.

She also understood the attraction building when she saw Kim fight. Sure, when Kim was pretending to be a maiko, she was cute, utterly adorable really. But, she was sort of that way when she was just sitting still, but she got to fighting, she suddenly became sexy. A sexy little fox, _her_ sexy little fox.

But, beyond her physical attraction to Kim, her feelings did confuse her. They seemed too intense for her liking. She panicked so badly when the redhead went missing that she was close to tears and she did not like that at all. Why did she care about Kim so much? Had the girl's comfort done that, the comfort that she had brought as Akako? It was such a curious thing.

Then there was the fierce possession that she felt in regards to Kim. She was possessive, she was very much aware of that. Whenever she had been told by people that Drakken was a moron and she would always agree with them that he was, but he was _her_ moron. She was nowhere near as possessive of him as she was of Kim, though. She had never been as possessive of a person as she had realized she was with Kim when she found out that Kim was missing over an hour ago.

It showed to Shego that Kim sort of had a power over her, a power to bring out her emotions, strongly on certain occasions. It was not something that she was accustomed to. Sure, she was possessive and got pissed when people took things that were hers, but she never panicked. She never got choked up about things or near tears or anything like that until Kim went missing. How could Kim make her feel that way? Why was Kim able to make her feel that way? She just did not understand it. She was not even sure if she liked it, even though she was certain that she liked Kim.

"Shego…" the teenager said, breaking a long moment of silence and interrupting Shego's thoughts again.

"Yes?" the raven-haired warrior answered.

"I don't know what to consider us," the redhead admitted. She figured that the pale woman might have a better idea as to what they were since Shego seemed so deliberate in her actions and seemed to know what she wanted.

"That makes two of us," the emerald-eyed martial artist remarked. "But, let's think outside the box with it," she added. She figured that their relationship had to be somewhat unique, so there probably was not something that they could just call themselves and be accurate about things.

"Okay," Kim concurred, even though she did not know what Shego meant by that.

"What do you think we should be?" Shego asked.

The olive-eyed samurai shrugged. She was not sure what she thought that they should be. If Shego was a male, maybe she could figure out that they were somewhat like lovers, but with Shego being a woman, it was baffling. She would not go so far as to say that she was in love with Shego. She felt something deep for the woman, but it was not love, even though she did not know what it was like to be in love.

Could someone fall in love with a person that she had only known for a couple of months and they had not been totally honest with each other? Neither Kim nor Shego had the answer to that question. What was love anyway? Did they need to label what they felt? Well, it would certainly help make things less perplexing.

"I don't know," Kim finally verbally answered the question of what she thought that they should be. She did not even know what the emotions were. She did not understand why they were there. How could Shego make her feel so sweetly confused by only spending time with her back at a teahouse?

Shego chuckled a bit. She was glad that Kim was honest. She was not sure what she would label them either, but if they were average, she probably would dare to say that Kim was her girlfriend. She probably would have dared that thought back at the teahouse if she had been thinking about it enough. She had been doing things with Kim that she figured a guy would do with a girl that he liked and wanted to impress in a way. She had gone out of her to show Kim a good time and she had taken her from the teahouse more than once because she knew that the redhead did not want to be there. She had gone out of her way to spend time with the petite redhead, which was rare for her to with a person. She just not bothered to look at things like that at the time to realize that Kim was more than a friend to her.

"You're my little kitsune," Shego decided to tell her companion.

Before Kim could express offense to that nickname, and she was going to express deep offense to it, Shego leaned down and kissed Kim softly. The redhead accepted that show of affection and soon felt a hand pressing gently against her cheek, caressing her rather fondly. Their lips continued to touch tenderly as seconds passed. They were not sure how they would describe the kiss, but they figured that heavenly would suffice. It was like touching paradise.

"Definitely mine," Shego whispered because she was not going to let anyone else have Kim. She was not going to give up someone that made her feel like she was in heaven just from the feel of her lips.

"And?" Kim said, lacking anything better to say.

"I'll be yours. What do you want, an oni to go along with your being a kitsune?" Shego asked with a teasing smile.

"I don't like being thought of as a kitsune," the redhead replied with a small pout. She did not mean to make the expression, but she did dislike the notion and it did not occur to her to be angry with Shego for dubbing her such a thing.

"Doesn't matter. You're my little kitsune and you better be loyal to me," the raven-haired female playfully threatened. She had a feeling that she did not need to seriously say such a thing to Kim. She could tell that the young woman was hers and could not, would not stray.

Kim frowned. She really disliked the fox jokes and things. What was with people and her being a fox? Did she look like a fox? Not in her opinion, aside for her hair color. Okay, her hair matched a fox's fur to a certain extent, but she did not think that it warranted all the fox garbage that she had to put up with. She really did not think that her actions should have gotten her branded as a fox by anyone.

"I'm going to make you like the name," Shego commented to get Kim to stop looking like she had just called the teen something worse than a whorish bitch.

"I doubt it," the samurai grumbled.

Shego smirked. She liked a challenge of course, especially the one that was just issued. She went in for another kiss, if only for Kim to get the idea that the name was not going to go away. Kim was now her princess and her fox. Kim was just hers. It was the best way that she could put it and she thought that it was a good way to put things.

The redhead accepted the kiss. Was Shego on to something? Was it just that she was Shego's and Shego was hers, end of the mystery? Could anything really be that simple? The kiss made it seem that way. The kiss seemed to make things make sense while it was going on, probably because it did not allot her as much of her brain to think about things as just sitting there did.

Since Kim accepted the embrace, Shego decided to deepen the kiss. She gently lapped at Kim's lips and the redhead obeyed the silent command. She opened her mouth and Shego's tongue entered as expected. It was greeted by Kim's tongue and they both moaned from the meeting.

After a few seconds later, the pale woman was lowering Kim to the futon that she had out while making sure to not break the kiss. The younger fighter did not seem to guess what Shego had planned until she started feeling hands working on her obi. Something inside of her panicked at that and she pulled away from Shego as best she could. It was enough to get the older warrior's attention.

"What's wrong?" Shego inquired. She thought that they had worked past Kim feeling anxious about everything or her thinking that their attraction was wrong. She could not figure out what other problems the redhead might have about them being together.

"I don't know. I just sort of…felt weird," Kim answered.

"Weird?" the pale female echoed in a puzzled tone.

"Like I'm not ready to do whatever it is you're planning," the redhead explained as best she could. She was not sure what it was that Shego could ever do. She knew enough about biology to know they could not to do what it seemed like Shego wanted to do, but she was nervous to the point that it felt like they were going to do that. It did not help matters that she had no desire to be seen without her clothing if it could be helped.

"It's okay," Shego said.

The green-skinned woman figured that it was Kim's first time being with anyone. She would not be surprised if she was Kim's first kiss; she was right about that. Shego recalled her first time and she had been extremely aggressive to stave off any feelings of nervousness. Her time had nothing to do with having deep feelings for the man. She just got turned on by the way he fought and how many opponents he was able to take down and she wanted to prove to herself that she had gotten over the attraction that her parents so desperately wanted to rid her of. She did not want her time with Kim, anytime with Kim, to be like that.

"It's okay," Shego repeated and she placed a tender peck on Kim's lips, hoping to soothe the teen's nerves.

Kim was not surprised by the understanding that Shego showed her, even though she was had already figured out that Shego was kind of bad-tempered. She was not surprised because Shego seemed nice to her back when they spent time at the teahouse. Since Shego was not acting too different from what Kim recalled from "yojimbo-san," Kim considered that the time at the teahouse might have been reality might have been in earnest with them, even if they were hiding things.

"Shego, do you think what we had back at the teahouse was real?" Kim asked quietly and curiously.

"Just as real as this. It's what led to this, isn't it?" Shego countered. She was still positioned over Kim, but she was not making any moves on the redhead. She did not want to add to the anxiety that the redhead might still be feeling.

"I wish it would always be real," Kim added and she did not even realize the next words that she was about to speak. "I think I would rather be in that gilded cage with you than where we're going now."

Shego smiled softly, fondly; she was doing that a lot more around Kim and she noticed that, but did not really care. She noted the light feeling that spread through her entire being because of those words and who spoke them. The redhead cared deeply for her and she was pleased with that because she cared for Kim. She moved her hand and caressed Kim's cheek with her fingertips, being extremely cautious with her claws to avoid harming her companion.

"No, you wouldn't. I don't think either of us could stand a gilded cage. As far as where we are now, we've got to move forward, kitsune. That's just the way life is. Try not to despair. Life's about having a good time," Shego replied.

"Why do you always sound so wise?" the redheaded samurai wondered out loud. She had always considered herself pretty smart, especially for someone her age, but Shego said things that just left her in awe.

"I just say what's on my mind, princess. I say what I think and what I've seen. It's your life, so you should do what you want. When someone else starts living the life that's yours then they could do whatever the hell they want with it," Shego remarked with a bit of a smile.

Kim smiled too; it was a near grin. Shego then sat up, which caused Kim to follow suit because she wondered what Shego was doing. The emerald-eyed woman grabbed her futon and tugged it over to the one that Kim was on. She lined the two mattresses up side by side.

"I hope you're ready for me to sleep next to you, hime," the pale woman remarked, still smiling. She was rather happy to be able to sleep next to the redhead in a regular bed. It was nice to be the type of happy that she was, she noted; where she did not have to degrade anyone or mock someone for the feeling, although those situations tended to lead to amusement, not happiness.

Kim made a strange noise, sort of like a tiny yelp, and nodded in agreement. They had slept next to each other already, but just not in proper bed, nor had it been planned out loud. Hearing it and seeing it unfold before her was different, but she was definitely not opposed to the idea.

So, Shego finished the set up and then they did something that they usually would not do while in an unfamiliar location, they began to undress. They both had to mentally tell themselves not to be self-conscious about things; after all, they had planned to see each other in the bath earlier. They had unfortunately been interrupted then, but the plan did tell them that at some point in time the other was going to see their bodies, which was why they did undress. Kim, still being a neat-freak about her things, had to fold her outer kimono just right when she took it off. By the time Kim was getting to her hakama, Shego was already down to nothing but a white yukata, which she had on underneath her other clothes.

Shego just watched Kim neatly fold her hakama when she got those off. The pale woman had folded her hakama, but not in any proper fashion. She threw her kimono down in a heap because she was going to retire that cloth as soon as she had a chance. She did not care about the kimono. The hakama were probably going to be trashed too as soon as she could get another pair. So, there was really no point in her opinion in trying to preserve the gear.

Once Kim was done, she was down to her own yukata. She turned her attention to Shego and nearly let out a shocked "eek" noise because she had not been expecting Shego's yukata to be so short. Shego's yukata was not even mid-thigh length; she had cut it, like she did with all of her undergarments. It was for a practical reason, not to look sexy, even though Shego was very aware that she looked damn sexy.

Shego did not like layers of clothes because she was already sporting a fever pitch of a body temperature. If a person touched her, the person could tell that she was hotter than the average person, but not to the point where the person could guess what it was like if she put on a bunch of clothing. She never looked forward to being trapped in a bunch of clothes because of how hot she already was internally and the clothes never helped. It was a concept that her parents never understood and they used to put her in layers of kimonos all of the time.

"Careful, princess, you can catch flies with your mouth open like that," Shego remarked and she leaned over to kiss Kim's slightly open mouth because of her surprise and awe.

The samurai was still in a bit of a daze when Shego pulled away, but she shook it off. The pale woman blew out the lanterns that were illuminating the room and then returned to the bed. They both lay down and Shego pulled Kim close to her. The redhead did not resist in any manner.

They lay there silently and then Kim did something that she thought was weird for her, but she did not seem to have any control over it. Her left hand started walking across Shego's bare leg. It was slow at first, like she was waiting to be reprimanded for her actions, but she was not admonished at all. So, she continued stroking the limb, finding that she liked the way the muscular thigh felt. The skin underneath her fingertips was soft and tempting. Eventually she was running her whole hand up and down the leg and Shego was thoroughly enjoying the attention.

Neither of them said a word through out Kim's actions. Shego just figured that she would allow the redhead to get comfortable with the idea of touching her body. It was not like she disliked it and from the way that the younger warrior continued on, she believed that Kim was enjoying the exploration too.

The olive-eyed samurai was rather intent on her work. Her heartbeat accelerated as she went on feeling Shego's legs. The more she touched the flesh, the more flesh she wanted to touch. She did not go too far, though, thinking that she might be getting out of line if she did. She did not want to do anything that might be seen as extreme or she might have to stop the little that she was doing.

After a while, Shego could not take the action anymore. She leaned down and captured Kim's mouth in a rather forceful kiss, letting Kim know that the caressing was turning her on. Kim returned the kiss and continued on stroking Shego's legs. That was pretty much their activity for the night until they fell asleep, hugged up very close.

--(Next day)

Kim and Shego woke up from just about the most peaceful sleep that either of them had ever had. They also woke up to what they believed was the best sight ever, which was each other. They greeted each other with a kiss and even some light groping, making sure to take their time in getting up.

Once they did get out of the bed, they got dressed and then went out for breakfast. They looked around for any sign of Motor Ed and his group, but none of them were out and about. The town's people seemed to appreciate the peace and quiet because they were whispering about how nice it was that Ed and his goons had not rode into town yet acting like wild hooligans. Kim and Shego did not say anything about their part in Motor Ed's probable absence because they did not see the point.

The duo got their breakfast and grabbed some things for the road. They then set out on the path leading out of the town. They even went passed the battleground from last night, seeing some of the vehicle parts still scattered about, but no sign of the gang. They did not really care. Shego put her arm around Kim's shoulders and the redhead smiled at the older woman as they continued walking toward the future.

* * *

Next time: Kim gets upset with Shego and they run into some trouble in the form of killer plant life.


	21. Sprouting seedlings

I don't own these characters.

21: Sprouting seedlings

Kim and Shego were strolling down a narrow pathway through some cliffs. They had gotten off the main highway to avoid anymore checkpoints. Kim did not do as well at checkpoints as she liked to pretend; it seemed that inspectors were more likely to believe her passport when she was with Ron for some reason that was beyond her. They had already gone through two checkpoints and even though Kim's papers were all official and everything, inspectors seemed to like to bug her. Shego guessed that the inspectors thought that Kim would just take the abuse and as tolerant as Kim tried to play it, she had a nice little temper on her, which Shego thought as hot as long as it was not directed at her.

"You know, I've figured something out," Shego said while putting her arm around her little kitsune since there was no one around.

"What?" Kim asked while leaning into the pale woman. She had her hands in her sleeves and was holding her elbows, which was how Shego was until she put her arm around her redheaded companion.

"You're a troublemaker," the fire-starter commented with a smile on her face.

"What?" the olive-eyed samurai said as if she was deeply offended by that. She was a hero, not a troublemaker. She helped people; she did not start trouble with anyone.

"I like troublemaking kitsune best of all," Shego remarked, leaning in and placing a few gentle pecks on Kim's cheek.

The redhead giggled a little bit because of the tender, soft sensation. The best thing about getting off of the main road was that they did not have to worry about a bunch of people seeing them hugged up together, which happened quite often. Though neither of them said it or even thought it, they were reveling in each other's presence because with every step that they took they were getting closer to the end of their reality.

They tried their best to never think of what was at the end of the road and they were successful in that. For the moment, being together was the truth and being apart was an impossibility as far as they were concerned. It was like there was no future in their minds, only now. And since there was no future, there was no reason to consider where their journey ended and what would happen when they did find themselves walking separate paths.

"I'm not a troublemaker, especially not a troublemaking kitsune," Kim argued in a very civil tone. She was already taking less offense to the idea being called a "kitsune," even though it had only been decided a few days ago that Shego was going to use that nickname, whether Kim liked it or not. The problem with the statement was that it dubbed her a "troublemaker" more than anything else.

"Really? Well, I'm going to have to go find a troublemaking kitsune then. Got no use for non-troublemaking kitsune," the pale woman joked with a taunting nonchalant expression on her face and she removed her arm from around Kim's shoulder.

The olive-eyed samurai tried to pretend that she did not care about the limb missing. She stared straight ahead. Shego did the same while folding her arms back the way that she had them, putting them in her sleeves and holding her elbows. Both of their jaws tightened as they continued their journey. They were getting tense from the small space that was between them now. It was not even inches, but it might as well had been miles as far as their bodies and minds were concerned.

"So…" Kim said. She was not looking to fill the silence for any particular reason other than to forget that she desired to have that arm back around her, pressing her into the magnificent form of her cohort.

"No, don't try that now. It's too late," Shego replied.

"You don't even know what I was going to say," the younger female pointed out.

"You were going to beg me to hold you again, but nope, too late for that now," the fire-starter remarked with a bit of a smile.

"What?" Kim said rather indignantly. As if she would beg anyone for anything at all. Why the very idea was…not so insulting or farfetched coming from Shego. Damn it. Well, she still was not going to do that anyway, so it did not even matter.

"You know you were," Shego teased with an amused smirk. Her eyes almost sparkled when she taunted her smaller companion. There was a strange level of joy that came over her when she teased Kim. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she was not looking to be malicious. She was being lighthearted, which was new for her.

"You wish I was. If anyone around here ever does any begging, it'll be you," the redhead replied with a playful smirk of her own.

"Please, I'd sooner kick your ass than beg you for anything."

Kim scoffed. "Keep telling yourself that, but no one kick's Possible-sensei's little baby girl's ass," she commented.

Shego laughed at that because she had considered that Kim was too proper to swear, but she guessed that she was wrong. It was good to know that the kid was not totally proper, even though she did have to fold everything the right way. She liked learning new things about the redhead, beyond the noble-class kid that hated playing the shamisen. It only made her like Kim all the more, knowing about her. The only thing that made that task a little difficult was that Shego did not ask questions.

"Possible-sensei?" Shego muttered to herself. Now, she was curious about Kim's parents, about her family, even though the family name did sound very familiar to her. She never cared about people's lives the way she did about Kim's. It was just a little annoying and that was only because it was something new, but since it involved her traveling companion that made it almost completely all right with her.

Kim was actually curious about Shego's family too; she did not even know Shego's family name. She wondered about Shego's past and how things got to where they were for Shego. Where was Shego from? Why did she leave specifically? When did she leave her home? There was so much to know about the pale woman in Kim's opinion and she wanted to know everything, so she could be closer to Shego. And, unlike the green-skinned warrior, she was willing to ask as many questions as necessary to sate her curiosity.

"Hey, Shego," Kim said.

"What?" the pale woman replied.

"Do you have any family?" the redhead asked out of the blue it seemed. She said it in a soft tone, in case it was a touchy subject. It was always possible that something negative happened to her companion's family.

Shego glanced over at Kim without turning her head. She made it a habit to never talk about her family for several reasons, but mostly because she did not want people to know about them. It partially had to do with a desire to be judged on her own merits and not through her family, but there were other reasons that she would rather not think about at the moment, like how irksome they were. She was not too sure if she wanted to answer that question, even though it was Kim asking.

"What does it matter?" the raven-haired female countered. It seemed like the safest thing to do.

"I just wanted to know," the redhead answered.

Shego did not respond and Kim tensed up because of that. Why was Shego being so closed off? Was she good enough to feel up, but not worthy of any information on Shego's life? And to think, she actually cared about the green-skinned woman, only to be treated as if she was totally untrustworthy with general background information!

The younger warrior snorted in deep anger and turned her attention straight ahead again. She was fuming so badly that it was almost coming off of her in intense waves. It would have been more kind of Shego to punch her in the stomach than to withhold information from her after everything they had been through and how close they seemed to be. Maybe it was all just a lie, the redhead considered. Suddenly, she could not get to Edo fast enough and she began walking faster.

Shego noted that the petite samurai picked up speed, so she did too, which only made Kim go faster. Shego sped up too and before long, they were practically running side by side. It almost appeared like they were in a footrace.

"What the hell are you doing, hime?" the older warrior demanded to know.

Kim did not answer. Shego noticed the extremely tense expression on her kitsune's face. Oh, she had gone and upset the girl. For a moment, she thought that she could not care and then her brain reminded her that she cared about everything that went on with Kim by making her feel guilty for vexing the slender redhead. Damn it, she was not too sure if she liked caring about someone if it was going to make her feel bad for being herself.

Kim was thinking in a slightly similar fashion. She had no problem with caring about someone, as she cared about plenty of people. It was caring about Shego in whatever way that she did that was starting to bother her. She disliked that someone had such a tight grip on her emotions where she could become so angry just from refusal to openly answer a generic question, especially since Shego liked to tease and taunt too. She could easily find herself emotionally and physically drained from being around a person with such a power, which was not a pleasing thought.

"Princess, I—" Shego was about to explain herself, but they hit a rope bridge that did not seem to be able to support their combined weight. It probably did not help that they had ran onto the bridge, stressing it even further, but either way, it bridge snapped in two.

"Kuso (1)!" both females hollered as they plummeted.

They both looked down to see how far they had to go and they could see that it was quite the fall. They both went into their sleeves and pulled out grappling hooks. They let the hooks fly and snagged the end of the bridge. They almost slammed into the cliff face, but they kicked their legs out in time to avoid smashing into harshly. They breathed a sigh of relief until Shego's wire popped and she continued to fall.

"Fuck it all," Shego cursed and sucked her teeth. Of course the line would break when she was dangling a hundred yards from the ground!

"Shego, I'm coming!" Kim called as she dived after her cohort.

The redheaded samurai went down head first and pressed her arms to her sides, hoping to gain some momentum to catch Shego. The pair came close to each other, putting their hands out to grab for each other. They touched fingertips and then Kim suddenly came to a shocking halt because she did not have anymore length on her line. Shego, of course, continued to follow the path that gravity intended.

"Shego!" Kim screamed in pure horror and concern.

"Don't worry!" Shego called to the redhead, not sure if she was heard or not as the space between them widened.

Kim watched in disbelief as Shego disappeared out of sight thanks to thick brush below. The redhead hollered at the top of her lungs in despair. She automatically decided to go down there to look for the pale woman. She hoped to the heavens that Shego was all right, even though she did not see how that was possible. What if the last time that they saw each other was when she was so angry with Shego? She just could not stand that thought and commanded the universe itself to protect Shego until she got to the older woman. She grabbed onto the cliff face and released her line. She started climbing down the cliff, determined to get her companion back in some form.

* * *

Shego swore for about the tenth time as she broke through some treetops and she grabbed a branch to avoid slamming into the ground. She jerked because of the sudden halt, but breathed a sigh because she had stopped. And then she heard the branch creak. She groaned, knowing what the sound meant. The branch splintered and broke off quickly and she was falling again. At least she did not have so far to go.

She hit the ground quickly and landed like a graceful cat. She was glad to be back on the ground. She looked down just in case the dirt wanted to be annoying and cave in too since her falling was suddenly in fashion. The ground seemed solid enough, though. She looked around once she was sure that the floor was not going to betray her.

She had landed in a regular, but slightly dense forest as far as she could tell. She decided to just wait where she was for a little while. She did not know if Kim was climbing down for her or not because the treetops cut off her view of the cliffs. She just knew that if Kim had fallen, she would be climbing down for the teen, so she gathered that Kim was climbing down since they seemed to worry about the same amount for each other.

Shego began picking leaves and twigs out of her hair that entrapped themselves there from her fall. While she was doing that, her instincts started to act up. She turned around, hands up in her fighting stance. She was surprised to see that there was no one there. She craned an eyebrow because she really felt like there was some danger around. She just could not see it. And then her feet were pulled out from underneath her.

Shego grunted as her back hit the ground and she looked up, trying to see what just happened. There was a tree root wrapping around her ankle and it started pulling her in the direction that it was growing from. Shego was not about to be yanked into a thick, lush bush by some pushy, possibly demonic tree root. She sat up and ignited one hand. She cut through the tree root and tried to climb to her feet. She did not even have time to figure out if she wanted to stand and fight or run off until she had better idea of what that root was and what it wanted from her.

A bunch of other roots shot out from the bushes and grabbed for her, wrapping around her wrists and ankles with amazing speed, especially for plant life. She growled in aggravation and cut through those irksome weeds as quickly as she could. She almost fell over because they had been pulling and she had been resisting the force. She then tried to make a run for it since she was free, but more roots came at her.

The wooden tentacles gathered Shego up before she would get away. She sucked her teeth in anger with the persistent plant and was ready to set the whole damned forest ablaze since it wanted to bother her at a critical time. The roots coiled tightly around her body in a matter of seconds; she did not even get a chance to mutter a swear word at the sheer absurdity to what was happening. Shego was completely covered and then sucked into the bushes before she could ever flex a muscle to try to escape. It would seem that the ultimate warrior had been defeated by an overgrown blade of grass. What a crappy day.

* * *

Kim made it down the cliff and ran into the trees, hoping to run right into Shego. No such luck, though. She did not see any sign of Shego for a moment, which she thought was odd, and then she noticed the drag marks on the ground. She hoped that the marks had nothing to do with Shego, but she followed them anyway because they were in an area that had broken sticks and fallen leaves about it. There was a chance that they were related to where Shego went.

She ran off into the dense bushes without even thinking. The only thing on her mind was that she wanted Shego back and she wanted her back safely as soon as possible, if not sooner than that. If Shego was so much as scratched by someone, Kim was going to kick that person's ass thoroughly. Because of her impulsiveness, she was not paying too much to the landscape.

The redhead hit a slope and slid down it. She did not fall over or anything, but it took her a few seconds to regain control over herself. She made sure to grip her zori fronts because she did not want to pop the strap to her sandals. She hit the bottom of the hill and then heard applauds, which confused her. She looked up to see a quartet of children, who she guessed had just witnessed her unintentional show.

"Wow," the group muttered.

"Um…hi," Kim said awkwardly and she waved to the clique. "You guys haven't seen a cranky woman with green skin around here, have you?" she asked curiously.

"No," they all answered.

Kim cursed under her breath. She looked around and tried to think of what might have happened to Shego. The drag marks had led to the hill that she had just slid down, but she did not see any evidence that the drag marks continued where she was now standing. It did not help that the children said they had not seen Shego and she was a hard one to miss. While she was getting more worried by the second, thinking that something terrible might have happened to the pale woman, she was not losing her determination to find her companion.

"Have you seen anything weird around here?" Kim asked the kids.

They nodded enthusiastically, seeming to want to talk about the bizarre happenings that had witnessed. It would seem that there was no shortage of weird things that were going on around their home and they eagerly spilled out everything that they knew. They informed her that the forest was possessed and it often came alive. The demon plants sometimes walked around, not to mention the plants sometimes attacked and ate animals and people. Apparently, the local flora was a haphazard to anything that breathed and moved.

"Sounds like a dangerous place to live," Kim commented, mostly believing the children because she had seen some very strange things in her short life. Killer lilies would not even crack her top-ten list of strange phenomena.

"You mean you believe us?" one little boy asked.

Kim nodded to affirm that and the children looked rather shocked. They were not used to being believed it would seem, especially by someone who was not from around their village. Kim was inclined to believe just about anything thanks to all of the things that she had seen and experienced in her life. The recent events in her life truly helped open her mind, giving her the mindset that anything was very possibly for anyone or anything.

"So, do you know where these moving plants come from?" the redheaded samurai asked the children.

"They come from the forest," a girl answered.

Kim laughed a bit. She supposed that she should have seen that coming. She was dealing with very small children, after all. She guessed that she was going to have to go inspect things around the forest. She scanned the area while the children came closer to her. They were eyeing the weapons on her hip and one of the little boys was about to make a bold move. He was going to touch Kim's mismatched long sword.

"Hey!" Kim barked at the boy, causing him to jump back because of the sound of her voice.

"Are you a samurai?" a girl asked curiously.

"Yeah, so don't touch my swords. Don't go around touching a samurai's sword or your might get hurt by a not-so-nice samurai," the redhead informed them. She did not like that the boy had gone right for her unused sword and she was not sure what might have happened if he touched it. Then there was the fact that if they did meet another samurai and made an attempt to touch that warrior's weapons, there could be all sorts of problems, especially with samurai having permission to slay people below their status for disrespecting them.

The group nodded collectively. They seemed to know that Kim was right. The redhead figured that she could get some information from the children's parents, so she asked them if they could take her to their village. They had no problem with that and charged off toward their homes. Kim was right behind them.

The olive-eyed samurai found that the adults in the small village that the children lived in were not as open as the kids were about the killer plants wandering around the forest. They seemed to want to save face or not come off as ignorant country folk. Kim tried to assure them that she did not think that they were insane or anything like that. She informed them that, in fact, she could help them with any problem that they had, especially if it was those plants.

The villagers eventually decided to trust Kim, especially if she could get rid of the demon plants, as they called them. The plants were dangerous because they did steal people away, eating them as far as the villagers knew because days after people went missing, they would find body parts of the missing person. They would love nothing more than to be rid of such a deadly force, especially since their village was practically surrounded by the forest. They did not want to lose anymore people, especially children.

"Don't worry, people, I'll take care of everything," Kim declared and she was about to walk off, but stopped. "Um…could someone tell me what direction I should be heading in?" she requested with a sheepish grin on her face.

All of the villagers that were around pointed her in the direction that she needed to go and she smiled while thanking them. They all moped as she walked away. They were not too certain if one skinny little samurai was going to be able to do much, but they were going to give her the benefit of doubt, especially since she had not called them fools outright when they told her about what was happening. She was the first outsider to not laugh in their faces about their troubles.

Kim began running, thinking that Shego might have possibly been grabbed by the killer plants. It did not take her too long to find out what the villagers had been going on about the plants snatching people considering the fact that she was attacked by three traveling bushes that growled at her like angry cats. She pulled her long sword in an instant.

"Guess I'm going to be a gardener for the moment," she commented. She was going to do things as quickly as she could because she desperately desired to have Shego at her side again. She hoped that Shego was well and good.

* * *

By the time Shego came to a halt, her face was covered by the tree roots and she could be heard screaming in a muffled tone; she was yelling every swear word that she knew and it was a long list. She was clawing at the roots as best she could, but they tightened around her as she scratched at them, cutting off her air and binding her hands closer to her body to stop her from moving them. It would seem that one of them was going to have to give sooner or later. Like hell she was losing to some plant, Shego declared mentally, and continued on despite the root acting as a constrictor.

"Oh, what have you gotten this time, my good little root?" a strange voice inquired.

Shego could tell that the person was close, but she could not place the accent, which she thought was odd. She was pretty well traveled and could tell where people were from based on their accents, but not with the person nearby. She could barely understand what the person near by was saying.

"Hey, whoever you are, get me the hell out of here!" Shego commanded in a muffled tone. Little did she know, but the mysterious person understood her just as well as she understood the person. She did have the excuse of having a plant over her mouth, though.

"Sounds like you got an angry one this time," the voice commented.

"When I get out of here, I'm going to beat your ass if this thing is yours," the pale woman vowed.

"Hold on to that one for a little while longer and then we'll start the experiments," the voice ordered the tree roots.

Experiments? Okay, Shego did not like the sound of that. It was time for her to get out of the predicament in her own special way. She just hoped that she was not in a house of anything or there might be all sorts of problems. She also hoped that there was no one around because she flared her hands. She growled as she powered up as much as she could, a low plasma charge coming from her whole body and coming out full-force in her hands. The tree roots burst into flames.

It sounded like the plant cried out in pain and it began to release Shego. She burst away on her own, easily breaking through the weakening wood. She dropped to the floor, unaware that she had been being held a couple of feet off the ground. She then quickly scanned the room, trying to get an idea of where she was and whose ass she needed to start kicking. All she saw was plants, all kinds of plants around the place.

"What do you think you're doing!" a voice cried, causing her head to snap to locate the owner of the voice.

Shego was not sure what to make of the man that she was looking at. He was short, about the size of a small child, and was wearing a weird helmet. There was something beyond that, though. He just looked odd. It was the best way that she could put it.

"Gaikokujin (2)?" she muttered in a puzzled voice with an expression to match. She guessed that he was not from Japan anyway. He looked just as weird as his accent sounded.

"Everyone, get her!" he ordered.

Shego wondered what he meant by "everyone" since she did not see any other people and then all sorts of plants attacked her. She quickly sprang into action, clawing at anything that got near her. She could not believe that she was even being attacked by flowers. They happened to be flowers with sharp teeth. What the hell was going on and who the hell thought that an iris was improved when given fangs?

While she was trying to fight off the plants, the little fellow who seemed to be controlling the mutants grabbed a few darts. He drew one at her, which she saw coming. She slapped the dart out of the air, but quickly had to turn her attention back to the murderous foliage and went back to clawing them. She had to change her focus again as another dart came her way. That went on until she was scratched by a dart.

"Shimatta," she silently swore and she felt a little dizzy, but she shook it off.

The little man laughed loudly and obnoxiously, knowing that he had gotten her with that dart. "You can try to fight the toxins, but it won't work. I don't know what you are, but it'll be interesting to study you and figure out how you light yourself on fire like that," he declared.

Shego did not pay him any mind and continued to fight on. She was slowed down, but she was still clawing and burning plants. The short male was baffled by her ability to stand up after he had managed to poison her and began throwing darts again. Shego cut through most of the plants attacking her, but she had three darts stuck in her back now. She was hardly able to stand up by the time she sliced through the last plant.

The little man laughed again, rather arrogantly, as he stared at her. He was upset that she had gone through all of his plants, but it was clear that she had nothing left in her. She was breathing hard and bleeding from various parts of her body. She could barely stand up from what he could see.

"Do you think that you could just stop me, the great Dementor!" the fellow declared and he laughed.

"Shego!" they heard Kim call.

"I'm in here, Princess!" Shego replied in loud voice, shocking the short guy that she was sharing a shack with. He did not think that she was strong enough to even raise her voice.

"What's going on?" the short fellow, Dementor, wondered aloud.

His question was answered in a manner that he did not like much. Kim kicked the door down to his hideout, which was not very well hidden in her opinion because it was a large house in the middle of the forest with trees coming out of the roof. Had Dementor been aware that Kim was going to storm in as she had, he probably would not have been standing by the door. The door, along with some of the wall that it was attached to, came down, hitting Dementor. Kim stepped in with a powerful stride that needed to accompany such an entrance; she was walking on the door.

"Ow! Do you mind?" Dementor hollered at the top of his lungs.

"Hmm?" Kim made a curious noise and then noticed that she was standing on him. "Oh, sorry," she apologized as she stepped off of the door.

"Don't apologize to him, you crazy kitsune! Just pick him up, so I can kick his ass," Shego ordered and Kim turned her attention to the pale woman.

"What happened to you?" the redhead asked curiously because of the horrid state that her companion was in. Between her tattered clothing, the blood stains on her clothing, the almost tired look in her emerald eyes, and slumped stance, Kim guessed that she had shown up at a good time.

"I got attacked by a deadly side dish," Shego remarked. "Look out!" she warned the teen.

Shego hollered "look out" because Dementor was climbing to his feet. Kim turned around and kicked out at the small fellow. Kim was used to fighting people taller than she was, so when she kicked, she was used to it being a side kick, but with Dementor's height, she hit him in the head. He went flying to the side and was stopped by a wall, which he dented on impact. He groaned and did not move, but he still seemed to be conscious. The helmet probably saved his life with the force that she hit him with. Kim went to go inspect him.

"Gaijin (3)?" Kim said curiously when she looked at him. She looked rather perplexed by his presence.

"That's what I said," Shego commented as she limped over to Kim.

"Are you okay?" Kim asked, hiding the concern that she was feeling by sounding relatively normal.

The green-skinned warrior nodded, but then she collapsed onto the redhead. Kim caught the pale woman, who was not unconscious, but dizzy as hell. She was sweating rather hard and it did not take a genius to know that she was poisoned.

"What did you do to her?" Kim demanded to know in a furious voice, grabbing Dementor by the folds of his red uwagi with one hand while making sure to keep a good hold on her companion with the other.

"Nothing!" he lied vehemently.

"Tell me the truth now!" she commanded him with more force in her voice than she knew she could use. She slammed his back into the wall for him to understand that she was not playing around.

Dementor flinched, but he did not say anything, even though he could practically see the fires of Hell in those olive eyes. It was the look in her eyes that made him reluctant to talk. Perhaps if she knew that he had introduced toxins into her friend, she would become even more ferocious and destroy him, he considered. Kim growled and was prepared to force him to talk, but Shego stepped in first. She decked Dementor with as much strength as she could muster and knocked him cold.

"Why'd you do that?" Kim asked.

"His accent is pissing me off," Shego replied. "Besides, people cooperate so much better when they're unconscious."

"But, he did something to you."

"Don't worry about it. I haven't met a poison that could screw me over yet. Let's get out of here," Shego said in a dismissive tone.

Kim was not too sure how to argue that, but she did anyway. She pointed out that Shego was poisoned, but the pale woman just fought with her on the issue. Apparently, they were both stubborn when they got a notion in their heads, but Shego was just a little bit more so and won out. She smirked arrogantly over it.

"You've just learned a great lesson, Kim-hime. Never argue with me," the raven-haired female commented and Kim just rolled her eyes.

They looked around to make sure that the plants were taken care of and from what they could see, Shego had done a good job taking them apart. Shego started for the door, but noticed that Kim was grabbing the foreign munchkin. The emerald-eyed woman wondered what her companion was doing.

"Princess?" Shego said.

"I'm going to take him back to this village that he's been terrorizing and let them watch him until the proper authorities come for him. He can also tell them how to stop any of the plants that might still be out there," Kim explained.

Shego sighed; she was trapped with a goody-goody to the max. She did not say anything as Kim picked up the little guy and they started toward the village. When they arrived, Kim tied Dementor up extra-tight to a tree and went into her sleeve. She pulled out a slip of paper and writing tool. She quickly jotted down a note and rolled it up. She then took out her small whistle and tossed the bound note into the air. It was caught by a bird that continued on flying.

"So, an official should come and take this guy off of your hands in a couple of days or so. Make sure he tells you everything you need to know before that because officials sometime don't like to do more than the pick up work," Kim said to the villagers.

"Thank you so much," the people said to her, everyone bowing in appreciation for her courageous efforts.

Kim waved it off as nothing, especially since Shego had done the real work in her opinion, but the people would not hear of it. They offered Kim and Shego shelter for the day, not to mention medical care for Shego. Kim accepted when they proposed that they would help Shego. The pale woman tried to protest, but she was weak from the poison and could not muster up the strength to do so. Kim smiled in triumph while giving Shego a look that said she always won.

* * *

Kim and Shego were alone in a hut that was given to them for the night by the grateful villagers. Shego was lying on a tatami (4) mat and her head was resting in Kim's lap. The redhead was caressing Shego's head and it was very soothing, especially since Shego was still feeling some of the effects of the toxins, but not much. Shego sighed, out of the blue it seemed because it was an almost defeated sound.

"So…I do have a family," Shego started. "I have four brothers, one ahead and three behind me. My parents recently died…" the pale woman continued on giving a general history of herself. Kim smiled fondly and just listened to her cohort go on.

* * *

1: Kuso: damn it; shit!

2: Gaikokujin: foreigner.

3: Gaijin: foreigner.

4: tatami: straw floor mat

* * *

Next time: Kim and Shego learn a lot more about each other, like why Shego is green and why Kim carries a sword she doesn't use. More importantly is the fun in a hot spring.


	22. Hot and steamy

I don't own these characters.

22: Hot and steamy

Kim and Shego were back on the road. They had recently left a village that had been being terrorized a crazy foreigner from what they could tell. The guy, who called himself Dementor, had somehow managed to create some killer plant life and had been using those to kidnap the villagers. They were not sure what he was doing with the people that he kidnapped, but the villagers knew that he killed the people after having them stolen away by his plants because they came across body parts quite often. Kim had sent word via falcon to some authorities nearby to come and pick Dementor up, but until the authorities showed up, the villagers were going to keep an eye on him or possibly take care of him themselves, especially since he informed them that his plants did not have long life-spans and the ones that were in the forest would be dead soon without his aid. He had dropped that information after some "influencing" from Shego and a detailed description of what she could do with one little flaming claw.

Aside for doing a good deed in the village, Kim and Shego had spent the night in the village in their own little, private hut. The villagers also provided the ladies with new clothing, which Shego sorely needed. The duo had not gotten to do anything except for clean up and talk because Shego was a little sick and cut up. She had been poisoned by Dementor while fighting with his killer plants. The cuts came from being bitten by the plants because some of them had sharp teeth.

Shego was feeling better now, but last night, she had not even argued much with being forced to lie down all night. Maybe it was because she had an excuse to rest her head in Kim's lap and Kim had helped feed her too, which had been very pleasant; she hoped for a repeat of that one actually. Shego had known for a long time that she liked to be spoiled and having Kim do it was even better.

Through out the night, they had gotten to know each other a little better. Shego started it off by talking about her family. She revealed quite a bit of information, like the fact that she healed very quickly, so Kim did not have to worry about the poison so much; the redhead accepted that because she had seen plenty of strange things in her life and she was fairly open to strange explanations. Shego even went so far as sharing that she was very much a daddy's girl, which was something that she never even admitted out loud until last night. She also explained that she had what she considered a healthy distain for her brothers, which was something that Kim could understand.

Kim had jumped into the conversation at that point and they bonded over having irksome brothers. They both laughed through out most of that conversation. They eventually came up with an unspoken rule of exchange. If one of them offered up a piece of history, the other then had to offer up something. They also asked for "secrets," which were just things they never told anyone else, mostly because they were embarrassed to have done the things or something along those lines. It seemed to be working so far, which they considered was because neither asked anything too deep or brought up anything too deep. They were still just a bit defensive even now, not wanting the other to get a negative picture because they wanted to continue being liked by the other.

"So, what's your most embarrassing childhood memory?" Shego asked Kim. She was willing to bet that it would be hilarious considering how wild she now knew Kim was when she was little. She liked the background information that she knew on the redhead, willing to bet that they would have been great friends if they had known each other in childhood.

"Hmm…" Kim thought on it for a few seconds. "There are a lot of those," the redhead commented.

"Why am I not surprised?" Shego remarked with an amused smile on her face. From what she could tell, Kim was great kid when people were looking, but as soon as someone turned their back, she turned into a little demon child.

"Scared the hell out of my parents once when I was really little by climbing onto the back of my grandfather's horse when he wasn't paying attention. I wasn't supposed to be up there and I knew it, but when my parents came out, I was going to brag to them about how I could ride. But, when they came out, my mother sort of screamed and panicked me. I slid off the horse and landed right in a puddle of mud, face first. As if my humiliation wasn't complete, I had to get scolded by my parents and my grandparents while getting cleaned off," Kim explained.

"Doesn't sound too embarrassing," the pale woman pointed out.

"Like I said, I have a lot of them. I'm just going from the top of the list because that's one of my first memories," the younger warrior replied. She did a lot of silly things when no one was looking, especially when she was a child.

"Your first memory is falling off a horse? How young were you when you climbed up there?" Shego asked incredulously.

"About three, I guess. I couldn't have been too old since my grandfather died before I turned five."

"You were a crazy kid."

"Yeah, well, what about you?"

"Hmm…What did I do embarrassing as a kid? I tried to tackle my older brother after he beat me in a sparring match and I landed in the koi (1) pond. To add injury to the insult, the pond was deep and I couldn't swim, but instead of staying calm, I started flinging my arms and pushed myself further out into the water. The irksome bastard saved me," Shego replied while shaking her head. She had forgotten about that, but yeah, her big brother had saved her life when she was little.

It was embarrassing just thinking about it and seeing the memories flash through her mind was even worse. She had actually needed saving and the one person to come to her aid was the person that she wanted nothing more than to beat bloody that day, but then again, she wanted to beat him bloody almost every day. She had learned how to swim right after that incident to make sure that it never happened again. She never wanted his help again, but she supposed that it was inevitable. Her father once told her that even the strongest warriors needed others around for support and assistance.

"Why do you hate him then if he saved you?" Kim inquired curiously.

"It's not that I hate him. I just can't stand him. You know how that is," Shego answered and Kim nodded because she did not hate her brothers, but she really could not stand them.

"I guess it is embarrassing," the redhead commented, talking about Shego's experience of being saved by someone that she viewed as annoyance. "But, it could have been worse," she added.

"How so?" the raven-haired female inquired in disbelief. What could be worse than needing to be saved by her ox of a big brother? Not to mention the fact that he used to bring it up all the time when she started talking back to him. He always wanted to know "is that anyway to talk to the person that saved your life?" If he wanted thanks, he needed to just say so. A big brother was supposed to save his little sister if she was in trouble anyway, which was why he never said such idiotic things when their parents were around.

"Your little brother could have saved you," Kim answered.

Shego frowned and thought about how true that was. She had already been mortified that her big brother had saved her, but had it been her little brother, she would have just jumped right back in that water. There was no way that she would have been able to live with herself being saved by her little brothers. But, she did tell herself that she never could have been in that situation to begin with if it had been one of her little brothers from the start.

"My little brothers would've never beaten me in a match for me to try to tackle them, though," the green-skinned fighter riposted.

"That's probably true," Kim concurred.

"What do you mean 'probably true'?" the pale woman inquired in a slightly offended tone.

"I'm just saying since it didn't happen, we'll never know."

"Because it's never happened is why we do know," Shego argued.

"Who's to say that maybe one of your little brothers wouldn't get lucky or something and then beat you?" Kim countered.

"I'm to say. It's never happened before and it never will. Besides, I'd never try to hurt one of my little brothers maliciously," Shego admitted without thinking. Oh, if that ever got out, her reputation would have been dead in the dirt, rotting in a shallow grace, she figured.

"Ah, so you're nicer than you pretend be, huh?" the olive-eyed samurai asked with a teasing smile on her face.

"Shut up," Shego said while playfully pushing the smaller female ever so slightly. Kim laughed a little bit.

They walked along for a while in silence. They had finally gotten back to the point where their silences were not awkward. It was pleasant and almost promoted little actions between them, like Shego took the chance to slip her arm around Kim's shoulders and pull the redhead close to her. Kim wrapped her arms around Shego's waist to the point where she looked almost like a drunk relying on Shego for support in walking. Her appearance did not matter, as long as she was close to her moss-hued companion, everything was fine.

"So, Kim-hime, want to tell me why you don't use that sword you carry?" the older female asked curiously. They had had enough run-ins with people for Shego to notice that Kim had a forsaken weapon on her belt. It seemed strange to her for someone to carry around extra weight for no reason at all.

"You wouldn't believe me if I did," Kim answered in a low voice, which sort of let the green-skinned fighter know that she did not want to talk about. She really was not in the mood to have Shego eye her as if she was crazy.

"How about you try me before telling me what I'd believe," Shego suggested, getting just a tad upset that information was being withheld from her. She could have sworn that they were being totally open and honest with each other.

"Trust me, you won't," Kim muttered. No one ever believed the story. They just looked at her like she was nuts and she was not looking forward to getting that look from Shego, so she would rather avoid it all together. She did not consider that she was insulting the taller woman by keeping it a secret.

"You don't know that."

Kim was not interested in arguing the matter and brought up a question that she hoped would divert attention from her unused blade. "How come you're green?" she inquired.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Shego answered. She was saying more as the truth than as a taunt. She wondered if when Kim looked at her, she saw a green person instead of just seeing a person. The idea that that might be the case caused a dull pain to start spreading through her being.

Kim nodded, taking it as a jab at her because she knew her companion could be spiteful if given the chance or a reason. The conversation ended there and they just continued walking in silence. They did remain cuddled up to each other despite the way that things went. It seemed like the desire to be close to each other did not waver between them, even if they had both vexed each other slightly. They did think on those questions and how they did not get or give any real answers.

They both considered that they did not truly have a right to be upset since they had both withheld information, but the reasoning did not ease the pain that they both felt that things were being kept from them. They knew from the way they felt about being close to each other that they wanted things to continue on as they were with each other, which meant that they were going to have to take chances and believe in each other, but it was just so hard. Life had already taught them to hold certain things in, but they knew that was no way to maintain what they had. Still, they did not speak.

What was to become of their bond when they refused to speak, even though they knew it was for the best? They were even certain that they would not react the way others had, but they still remained silent. Was saving face and upholding old habits more important to them? If that was the case, how could they continue on? Their connection would surely slip away like sand on a beach and they did not want that. Those thought and questions plagued them through their long silence.

* * *

The night had set in and the duo had run out of road. They were in a dense forest, but that did not bother them. They could care less about being in some thick woods overrun with wild animals and who-knew-what-else. The main thing bothering them was that they were still thinking on those earlier questions and they knew the other was aware of that because a new conversation had not started yet. There were also the other thoughts still on their minds related to the unanswered questions.

"Is that hot spring?" Kim wondered out loud as she stared ahead of them.

"Is it?" Shego said when she caught sight of the steam rising from a barely visible pool. Could it be true? Did the gods love her enough to put a hot spring in the middle of nowhere? She hoped so because she was still itching to see her little kitsune naked. She bet that it would be a great distraction from the ideas buzzing around her head like vengeful hornets.

"I think it is. You want to take a dip?" Kim asked with a smile, letting her companion know what she wanted to do. Maybe relaxing in the hot spring for a little while would take the tension away following them around like a shadow, if only for a while. Maybe the soothing, healing water would even help them explain to each other why they chose not to answer those questions and they would not have to wonder if their defensive natures were going to slay their bond.

Shego laughed a bit; it came out more like a scoff, but it was laugh. Did she want to take a dip? Um, hell, yes, of course she wanted to take a dip. She had desired to see what Kim had underneath that kimono and hakama since she figured out that she was attracted to the redhead. And then there were the other factors of needing to relax with the hope that it would get those other less pleasant thoughts out of her head.

"Yeah, I guess," the pale woman answered nonchalantly, as if it did not matter one way or the other to her. It was against her nature to seem eager about anything that was not a battle.

"Great, let's go," Kim said and she started tugging Shego toward what they hoped was a hot spring.

They strolled over and found out that it was a hot spring. It was not very big, but big enough for the two of them. They finally let go of each other; they had spent the whole day walking as if they were connected at the hip. They both made a sweep of the area three times to make sure that no one was around and no one was. It was just them, the night sky, and whatever nocturnal animals were daring enough to approach humans, especially those humans.

Once they were sure that no one was around, they started getting out of their clothes. Shego craned a confused eyebrow as Kim went to undress behind a bush. She just had to ask.

"Princess, what the hell are you doing?" Shego inquired in bewildered voice accompanied by a puzzled expression.

"Don't look," Kim replied.

"What do you mean 'don't look'? We're both about to be in the same water. I'm going to see anyway," the pale woman pointed out.

"Just don't look," the redhead requested.

Shego sighed. "Fine. I don't see what the big deal is, though," she muttered. She was the freak with the green skin, after all. If anything, she figured that she should have been the one hiding behind a bush and pleading with Kim not to look. Maybe she could somehow fool Kim into not seeing that her whole body was a pasty green color.

Shego wondered if Kim cared so much about looks as she peeled her clothing away. The redhead did seem very concerned about her own body, but Shego would not say that the teenager seemed concerned with her body. She guessed that she was just going to have to wait for the reaction when Kim finally got to see what she looked like underneath it all. She just hoped the reaction was not too shocked or disgusted.

The raven-haired warrior slowly exhaled as she finished taking off her clothes. She folded everything, not too precisely, but enough to where it was clear that she was not always a slob. She folded the clothes because the kimono was new. The villagers had been so happy about how Kim saved the day that they gave the pair brand new clothes, which was fine by the ladies. She was especially happy about the new attire when they showed up with her colors for her.

She entered the water and settled down. She sighed as she sat with her back against the natural rock wall surrounding the spring. She glanced over at her clothes and her sword. She then looked over her shoulder, wondering where Kim was. She hoped that nothing happened again, but she would not be surprised if it did. After all, the last time that they were supposed to share a bath, Kim got kidnapped. Things just seemed to happen to them at the worse times. She could still hear the redhead moving around, though, so she knew that she was still there.

"Don't look," Kim said as she started to come out of the shrubs.

"I'm not looking," Shego sighed. "I'll even close my eyes," she promised.

"Okay."

Shego actually shut her eyes. She could hear her companion making her way closer to the spring. Kim put her things down and eased into the water. She glanced at the pale woman and then looked down at the water.

"You know, I'm not going to sit here with my eyes closed the whole time," Shego pointed out.

"I know," the younger female replied, sounding a bit disappointed. It was like she hoped that her companion would sit there the whole time with her eyes closed.

"I'm going to open them now," Shego warned the samurai.

"Go ahead," Kim sighed.

Shego opened her eyes and glanced to her right side, which was where Kim was sitting. It took all of her willpower to keep her mouth from dropping open. Yeah, she was definitely attracted to women, more specifically Kim. What in the hell was she so nervous about, Shego wondered. Her body was perfect.

"Princess, why the hell are you acting like you're deformed or something?" Shego inquired with deep interest. She had not known what to expect when the teen revealed herself, but she was glad to see perfection. Her little kitsune was perfect.

"Huh?" Kim asked as if she did not understand the question. She was trying her best not to look at her companion because she did not want to see the negative reaction she was certain Shego would have once she saw the scars that marred her form.

"You keep telling me not to look and everything, but you're…" the green-skinned woman trailed off because complimenting someone was against her nature and she was not sure what word to use anyway. Nothing would cover what she was looking at right now; even perfect was too shallow a term.

"Damaged. I know," the redhead sighed, thinking that she was finishing Shego's sentence.

"Damaged? Hell, no!" Shego replied with great energy. Yes, Kim was sporting some battle scars and everything, but hell, her body would look just as lived in if she did not heal so quickly and thoroughly. She put a hand to Kim's cheek and made the redhead look at her. "You listen to me, you're not damaged at all and if anybody has said or ever says otherwise, you deck them and tell them that you're perfect in every freaking way possible. Okay?" she inspected the olive-eyed warrior.

Kim nodded to show that she understood and she believed Shego. She could see the sincerity in those emerald eyes. She smiled a little bit because of the honesty. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders and that it had been replaced by the lightest feeling ever because Shego thought that she was perfect.

She decided to take a brave look at Shego's body since the pale woman had seen her. She could not believe that Shego was calling her perfect when Shego looked absolutely gorgeous. She was left gawking at the older woman, which sort of made Shego uncomfortable because she did not know the meaning behind the staring.

"Kim-hime," Shego said.

"Huh?" Kim mumbled as if she was in a trance.

"You do know my face is up here, right?" the raven-haired beauty teased. It was the only thing that she felt was safe to do at the moment.

"Oh. Sorry," Kim apologized as she turned her attention to Shego's face. "You probably think I'm some kind of pervert now, huh?" she realized in a disappointed tone.

"No. It's only natural that you stare since I'm damn sexy," Shego remarked.

"You are," the redhead agreed before she realized what she was saying. She then blushed because of that confession. "Well, you're very beautiful and everything," she added in a timid tone. "I hope you don't think I'm a pervert."

Shego smiled slightly; she was happier than she looked, but she did not want to show it. It would seem that she had worried for nothing. Kim thought that she was sexy and very beautiful. That was good to know. She felt better about herself now than she had in years, about her body anyway. They sat there, quietly for a moment.

Kim was still blushing. She did not see why she felt so shy around Shego while being nude. She guessed that it mattered because she wanted Shego to be interested in her and she wanted the pale woman to always like her. And as that thought went through her mind, she made a decision.

"The sword is called The Blade of a Hundred Sorrows. I don't use it because it's cursed. A hundred years ago, my ancestor Possible Mim used the sword in a battle to protect her home against an invading army from a neighboring lord. She single-handedly killed a hundred men with the blade and saved her home, along with many people. One would think that would be it, but those men were angry that they had been killed by her and they turned into demons. They returned to her home and attempted to destroy her home again. She faced them in battle again with the same sword and she killed them again. Their souls entered the sword and are trapped there. It's been passed down in my family line since her death," Kim stated the history of her unused weapon.

"Why pass down a cursed sword instead of just hanging it up and guarding it to make sure no one gets it?" Shego asked.

"It emits an evil aura that grows steadily if the sword doesn't have an aura to counter it and it will eventually possess someone who is just close by. So, the sword is given to a person in my family who is said to possess a will strong enough to keep the evil in check. My grandmother passed the sword to me when I became an adult, so my soul sort of does battle with those souls to keep the evil aura from going out of control. It's said that as long as I do good and honorable things, my soul wins the battle and the sword doesn't possess me. If I do wicked things, the demons in the blade will devour my soul and possess my body and seek revenge all over again, looking to destroy my family's ancestral home on our lands. So, my soul keeps the evil in check," Kim explained.

Shego nodded and Kim was waiting to hear how unbelievable her story sounded. How it was just superstitious nonsense and all that lot, which was how people tended to react to the story, which was why she did not bother to tell it. Hell, she had been skeptical about it when her grandmother first told it to her, but when she got the sword in her possession, she could tell that there were demon souls in the blade. She was told that she did not have to use it and it probably would be best if she did not. She just had to keep it close to make sure those demons did not get a chance to use any humans for sinister schemes. The task seemed simple enough.

"So, you think that story's crazy, don't you?" the teenager asked.

"Not really. I've heard stranger things. Besides, kitsune, you have to remember that you're talking to someone with green skin and semi-claws who can make fire with her hands. You couldn't shock me if you really turned out to be a fox spirit," Shego replied.

"I'm not a fox spirit," the redhead insisted.

"Sure you are; you're my little kitsune. Haven't we been through this?" the pale woman asked with a playful smile.

Kim smiled a little too and she blushed a little bit for a reason that was beyond her. She felt pretty good having gotten the story of the sword out of the way. It was nice to know that she could tell Shego anything and not have to worry about being looked at as if she was out of her mind or if something was wrong with her or even being accused of outright lying as some high-ranking officials had the nerve to do once.

Shego was glad to see Kim smile. It made her feel good inside and she really wished that Kim had just told her that from the start. She would have believed it because she did not think that Kim had any reason to lie about the weapon. Well, she supposed that since Kim should have just told her that in the beginning, she should have just returned the favor. It probably was not as big a deal as she was making it out to be.

"I wasn't always green. You're probably too young to remember, but thirteen years ago, something fell out of the sky. It happened to land in my backyard. It plowed right into me and my brothers while we were doing I-don't-even-remember. We got thrown around the yard pretty good, but weren't too hurt up. I came out of it the worse with green skin and the sharp nails. My younger brother came out purple. My big brother came out more annoying and my baby brothers also managed to get more annoying, although that's their intent and they were only three at the time, so you couldn't expect much from them anyway. After that day, my parents sort of looked at me different, my younger brother too. I guess because we looked different while the others still at least looked the same. My father tried to act like it didn't matter that I was green, but he didn't do the best job at hiding it. I guess he figured since I was young, I wouldn't notice, but I did. For a long time, I hated this color because it took my father from me. Plus, the stupid rock made him pay more attention to my big brother and he used to rub it in my face. He always talked about how he was spending the day with our father and no one else was invited, it was always just him, because he was stronger. I bet I could kick his ass right now, though," Shego said while making an angry fist.

She had lost a lot of people thanks to her appearance; her parents were just the first in a long line, but they did hurt the most. Maybe that was why she held on so tightly when she finally got someone in her life. After that rock hit, all she could think about was how she just wanted to get away from her bastard of an older brother too. He had always been a self-righteous, arrogant bastard, but once he got his super-strength and their father started taking an even bigger interest in his life, he got exponentially worse. He made sure to rub that one in too and seemed to think that because he was their father's favorite, he could control everyone's life when their father died. Screw him.

"Well, green or not, I think you're wonderful," Kim commented.

Shego smiled a bit. One sentence should not lift her spirits like that one did. It was great to have someone that tried to cheer her up or make her feel good about herself. She had not had that for a long time. She leaned down and kissed Kim softly on the mouth in appreciation.

The kiss started out innocent enough, more like a thanks than anything else, but as the seconds ticked by, it grew hotter and more licentious. And then a green hand joined the act, deciding to the opportunity to explore the slender body that it had been dying to touch while it had the chance. Kim yelped slightly as she felt warm fingertips on her ribs.

Kim debated with herself if she wanted to pull away or not. It felt strange, but in a very good way; actually, in a deliciously great way to be more accurate. She decided to just let it go and see where things went. She wanted to know where things could go and how she might help them get thing there.

The redhead decided to mimic Shego after a few seconds since she believed that Shego knew more about what they should do because Shego was already doing things. So, Kim began caressing Shego's side. It started out a little awkward because she was unsure of herself, but Shego shifted into the touch, which silently encouraged Kim.

All Shego needed was for Kim to respond and all gears in her head shifted to go. She moved to where she was standing in front of Kim and ended the kiss. The samurai whined a bit because of the break, but Shego quickly changed that noise by attacking Kim's neck. The younger warrior cried out in pleasure because of the new attention.

Shego's hands continued to roam Kim's torso, caressing every inch that they could. They came to a curiosity; well, more like a pair of curiosities. The soft flesh fit in the palms of her hands and she started kneading the two marvels, trying to solicit a response. Kim cried out again, a little louder than before.

The olive-eyed samurai's mind was getting cloudy, but she could think straight enough to move her hands on Shego's body. She started to mimic what Shego was doing to her on the pale woman herself. Shego was caught off guard by the sensation and she stopped everything that she was doing for a moment to hiss and exhale deeply.

"Keep doing that," Shego told Kim in an almost needy voice.

"You too," Kim replied in a whisper that she had to force out.

The emerald-eyed warrior did not respond verbally, but she went back to massaging the redhead with fervor. She also went back to lapping at Kim's neck, as if she was dying of thirst and it was the only thing that would keep her alive. As she suckled at Kim's throat, she moved her thumb to touch the center of the right soft mound in her grip. She circled the peak with her thumb and the teenager copied that on her body and Shego shuddered; it would seem the action got to Shego more than it did to Kim.

The pale woman decided to move on, so Kim could not mimic her again and mess up what she wanted to do by making her quiver. She moved her mouth down to where her hands were and turned to the left wonder since her hand was still occupying right mound and keeping the treasure company. She wrapped her lips around the left hill and applied pressure to the gem. Kim nearly sank into the water as her legs gave out, but she managed to hold herself up. It took all of her self-control to not scream to the sky, sharing her delight with the world.

Kim exhaled until the point that there was no more air in her lungs to expel. She had not expected that to feel as good as it did. She hoped that Shego did not stop. When Shego switched sides, Kim's lip started to tremble from the feeling. She bit into her lip when she noticed that it was trembling and it kept her from crying out. She did begin to shiver as the sensation began to course through her entire being. Shego happened to glance up and noticed Kim's expression. Shego halted her actions and Kim looked down at her as if she was the worst human being on the planet.

"Make as much noise as you want. No one's around," the raven-haired woman pointed out with a devilish smirk.

Kim took that as Shego wanting to hear her make sounds, which was the case. She was not too sure if she was going to be able to deliver that. She was not used to being loud and she had been taught not to be loud, no matter what. And then she shouted almost deafeningly as Shego suddenly returned to what she had been doing before, but managed to apply even more delicious pressure. Shego smirked smiled against Kim's flesh; she did enjoy hearing that noise and she wanted to hear more.

While Shego's mouth continued to delight in suckling Kim, her free hand traveled downward. She felt Kim trembling against her, but she was aware that it came from anticipation and desire, not anxiety. She lightly caressed Kim's abdomen, feeling the muscles twitch slightly from the attention. She reached around and came to another point of interest. She slid her hand up and down the swell of Kim's ass and the redhead moaned loudly, obviously enjoying the exploration as much as her partner was.

Kim was not about to let Shego have all the fun, though. Shego was still within her reach, after all. She moved her hands back to Shego's breasts, showing the green-skinned female that she had not escaped yet. She began stroking Shego's flesh again, causing Shego to start moaning too.

As Shego shuddered again from Kim's advances, she considered that she was going to have to do more to remain in charge and in control of what was happening. She moved her hand back to the front of Kim and went in for the prize. She barely touched what she was sought out and Kim's legs gave out from sensation. The redhead slid down into the water more than before. Shego merely followed to continue on with her duties.

Kim practically hollered in sheer bliss, unaware that anything could possibly feel so unbelievably wonderful as Shego gently rubbed a single, warm finger against her; Shego was extra-cautious with her strokes because of her talons. Kim's body started to tense up as the action continued and she wrapped her arms around Shego as she felt pressure building. She grasped and dug her nails into Shego's back as that fantastic pressure released in a wave of euphoria. She panted and shook as the feeling continued on for a few seconds. She held on to Shego as if the woman would save her life through out the whole event.

"How did you do that?" Kim managed to ask in a very low voice once she was able to talk.

"It's all about knowing where to touch," Shego answered as if it was common knowledge. She really wanted more time to find out where to touch and how much pressure to apply to those areas to really send her companion to the edge. She desired to make Kim shudder like the teen had made her do and she hoped that Kim noted those reactions to know to do that again at a later date; Kim had done just that.

"What now?" the redhead asked curiously.

"I've got an idea," Shego replied with another smirk. "We'll have to get out of the water for a little while, though."

Kim did not object because she wanted to see what Shego had in mind, but there was one little problem. "I don't know if I can stand up, yet."

"You don't need to."

Shego gathered Kim in her arms and carried her out of the water. Kim shivered a little as they exited the steaming hot water, but that was expected. Shego laid Kim down on the grass and situated herself over the redhead. Kim could guess what Shego was going to do. It was going to be a repeat like the time in the cabin, except without the clothing in the way. Hopefully, it would be even better, they both silently wished.

Shego positioned herself over Kim and in between the redhead's legs. She experimentally rubbed herself into Kim and they both hissed in pleasure. They found out that they were right. Shego leaned down and kissed Kim's mouth as they both began to move against each other. With every passing moment, their movements got more fervent and desperate. As the pressure started to build, Shego reached down between them, looking to help matters along. Kim twitched underneath her and brought her hands around Shego, which let the pale woman know that she had helped. She kept going as Kim hit her peak and not too long after Shego crested.

They remained as they were situated and caught their breath. While they did that, they placed small pecks on each other's lips every so often. The kissing led to petting, which led to deeper caressing. They could guess where that was going to go.

"We might be here all night," Shego remarked.

"I think it's fine by me," Kim replied and her companion just smiled.

* * *

1. Koi: carp (type of fish).

* * *

Next time: an unwanted interruption.


	23. Mental midgets

I don't own these characters.

23: Mental midgets

Kim and Shego were getting dressed by the hot spring that they had come across a few of hours earlier. They had not spent much time lounging in the spring. They had gotten in the water a couple of times, but they had not relaxed in it much, preferring to do other activities to unwind. They would have done that all night more than likely, but that would have been a good way for Kim to get sick considering how she would have been getting into the hot water and then out of it again and again. So, they were now getting dressed.

Kim was no longer shy about her body and did not go behind a shrub to get dressed, which Shego noted. Before, when they had come to the hot spring, the younger female had gotten undressed behind a bush and even went so far as to request that Shego not look when she had gotten into the water. The redhead was not making any such requests now. She knew that it would have been silly for her to do and she was very, very comfortable with her body now.

Shego was done first and just watched the olive-eyed warrior straighten out her clothing. As soon as Kim was done, Shego grabbed her and embraced her. She held the smaller female for no reason, but Kim was not going to complain. They both thoroughly enjoyed the close contact. Shego leaned down and kissed the samurai for no reason too, which Kim was also not going to complain about. If anything, she hoped more unnecessary actions like that occurred.

The duo still was not sure what to consider themselves. The concept of a couple did not even come to mind because they both had very distinct pictures of what a couple was. Their pictures were quite similar to each other too, as they both imagined a couple to be a man and woman who were married and in love with each other. They were not even sure how they felt about each other either. They did not have a word to put to it anyway, but they really did not care much about that anymore. They did not need a label.

"So, we're going to get moving, kitsune?" Shego asked in a whisper. It was like she really did not want to move, but it was necessary.

"I guess so. Maybe we'll find some place to stay," Kim answered.

"Hopefully," the pale woman concurred. She did not have any desire to sleep on the ground, although she would just continue walking before lying in the dirt. Well, she reminded herself that if she kept walking, she would not be able to curl up with her little fox and cuddling up with the redhead trumped everything as far as she was concerned.

They started off in the direction that they had been heading before they stopped at the hot spring. Shego made sure that she kept her arm around Kim and the redhead leaned against her as they traveled through the forest. They did not make it far before two huge men came out of nowhere, blocking their path. The men jumped out from behind some thick bushes and trees. The shrubbery had been very good cover because the ladies hardly noticed the two men before they showed themselves.

"Something stupid is about to happen," Kim muttered.

"Gee, ya think?" Shego remarked sarcastically.

The two men were wearing black masks over their faces and they had the air of being bandits about them, but something was wrong in the ladies opinions and they figured out quickly. The men while gigantic were not armed. Oh, they hoped that the guys were asking for directions then or those fellows were going to be in a lot of pain, although weapons would have only hurt them more in the end because that would only irk the ladies further.

"You girls look nice. How about you hang out with me and my friend, Steel Toe?" the man on the left suggested while pointing to his partner.

"Steel Toe?" Kim echoed. There was someone traveling the planet with the name "Steel Toe"? Who was handing out nicknames when he came along or was it all just a cruel joke?

"Why me?" Shego sighed. Really, why did everything have to be annoying just when she was enjoying herself? She knew that running into a man with the epithet Steel Toe and his friend in the middle of the night in a forest was just going to be the very definition of irksome.

"Did he really say his friend's name was Steel Toe?" Kim asked in disbelief.

Shego motioned down to the guy's foot for Kim to see that things got even more ridiculous. Kim looked down to see that the guy on the right was wearing a slipper made of metal along with a lone zori. So, people were actually that stupid, huh?

"And who are you? Empty Head?" Shego guessed, speaking to the unnamed fellow.

"The name's Pain King," he answered with a growl. At least his head was not so empty that he missed when he was being insulted, the pale woman thought, but then again, that was not saying much considering how direct the insult was.

"Well, excuse me, Oja-sama (1)," Shego said in a very mocking manner. She would have bowed to further her mockery of him, but she did not even feel like putting forth the effort for that. She just wanted the men to get out of the way, so she and Kim could find some place to cuddle and sleep in peace.

"Look, if you don't want to get hurt, just give us everything you have on you," Pain King ordered the pair in a forceful tone.

"Well, we damn sure couldn't give you the things we don't have on us, now could we?" Shego quipped and she seemed to confuse them for a moment with that question. The two would-be robbers were silent for a couple of seconds.

"And get undressed since you want to be a smart aleck," Steel Toe added in to respond to her inquiry.

"Yeah, that's not likely to happen," Kim commented dryly while rolling her eyes.

"Not with them around anyway," Shego remarked. "Look, guys, we'll give you a sporting chance. If you turn around and run away right now, I won't follow you and make you walk funny for the rest of your life."

The two men laughed as if the green-skinned woman had just told them a joke. Shego glanced at Kim and they both smirked at each other before turning their attention back to the two idiots. They could not see the guys' expressions due to the masks, but they were willing to bet that the looks were stupid.

"I don't think they're going to take your offer," Kim said to Shego.

"To tell you the truth, I don't want them to," the pale woman replied with a smile.

"I didn't think you did," the redhead replied.

"You know me too well, Princess."

The men took steps toward them; apparently, they were going to force the items that they wanted from the ladies. Steel Toe went to Kim while Pain King approached Shego. The hulking men cracked their knuckles and chuckled. Kim and Shego could not help looking amused; those guys did not know what they had just willingly walked into.

Pain King had the nerve to grab a hold of Shego by the fold of her kimono. He shook her a little bit, seeming to find it funny because he laughed while doing it. Shego failed to see the humor yet, but when she raked her claw-like nails across his forearm and broke the skin quite deeply, she was starting to see the comedy. He hissed in pain and backed away, making sure to let go of the demon woman while he was at it.

"Yeah, you certainly are the king of pain," Shego stated because she bet those gashes hurt like hell.

Steel Toe had grabbed Kim at about the same time that his partner had taken hold of Shego. He had his hand resting on Kim's shoulder and he began caressing her limb. She grabbed his wrist, rather offended by his actions, and flung him over her shoulder with surprising ease. He went flying into a tree.

"You are a strong little thing," Shego commented when she saw the move.

"Lots of heavy training," the redhead replied as if it was nothing.

"Are you sure you're not a fox spirit?" the raven-haired female teased.

"Are you sure you're not a demon?" Kim countered.

"A demon would've cut the arm completely off, not just scratch him," Shego pointed out.

Kim shrugged because her companion had a point. They then had to turn their attention away from each other as their opponents came back at them, for more embarrassment and agony as the two ladies looked at it. They were happy to oblige; hopefully, they would teach those morons that every pair of females they saw alone at night in the woods were not defenseless. In fact, women alone at night in the woods probably were more dangerous than anything the guys could run into considering the fact that the females were brazen enough to be out in the dark in some thick woods. Obviously, the guys did not think in such a manner.

Shego went at Pain King with some solid hand strike moves. She did not even bother to ignite her hands, feeling that he was not worthy of that honor. He tried to get a hand on her, looking to hold her. She was not about to allow that to happen and made sure to move around while nailing him with hit after hit.

Kim was doing pretty much the same thing with Steel Toe. She did have to avoid his metallic slipper, which he was trying to kick her with. She was much too quick for him, though; there was also the fact that he was slow because of his size. She moved out of the way as he was going to grab her and she kicked him across the face since he bent down some.

Pain King and Steel Toe fell into each other after taking a solid licking from Shego and Kim. The ladies stood opposite them, waiting for them to make some more moves. The men pushed off of each other and went back at their opponents, growling in anger as they charged the women warriors.

Shego ducked Pain King as he came close to her and tried to yank her into a bear hug. She then brought herself back up when he was over her and grabbed him by the waist. She used his momentum to fling him over her and into a tree. He grunted as he impacted the plant.

Kim continued to go at Steel Toe with some rapid kick moves. She looked at it as showing him how to do a proper kick, but he did not seem to be taking to the tutorial. He seemed to think that just because he had that metal slipper that all he needed to do was land a shot and that would be it. Little did he know, but she was not going to let him land any blow. She just came in with a steady line of torso high kicks until he fell back with aching ribs and forearms; his limbs were injured from trying to block her strikes.

"This isn't as much fun as I thought it would be," Shego commented. It was not fun to beat up on people that could not at least hit back. It was like bullying, even though the bandits were the ones that started it.

"Maybe they'll run away," Kim replied to lift her companion's spirits. She understood how Shego felt. They were warriors; they were not looking to just kick around those weaker than they were. So, with luck, those halfwits would run off and they could continue on their way.

"I doubt it. These guys don't mark me as the smart type," the pale woman stated.

"What makes you say that?"

"Mostly the fact that they're walking around with the names Pain King and Steel Toe. They might as well tattoo the word 'baka' (2) across their foreheads while they're at it."

Kim shrugged; she could not argue with that logic. It helped the argument that the two men were getting back up and coming at them again. It would seem that they were going to have to really hurt the "gentlemen" to get their point across.

The two bandits went at their respective opponents again, much to the ladies' dismay. Shego and Kim both decided that they were not even up to bothering with the guys anymore. They attacked the fellows very seriously and did not let up, even if they noticed the guys wobbling. They just continued on wailing on the fellows until they fell down and could not get back up.

"Well, that was pointless," Kim muttered while brushing dust off of her kimono for lack of a better thing to do, especially since their "opponents" were on the ground. She could not even bring herself to consider them real opponents; they were like training posts.

"Very," Shego concurred and then she turned her attention to the fallen would-be thieves. "You two stay there and think about what you've done and if I see you again, I'm going to make sure it's the last time I see you," she threatened them.

"Shego," her redheaded companion gasped, as if she was aghast to hear such words from her lover.

"What?" the pale woman inquired, acting as if she did not know what she just threatened the men with.

"Don't say things you don't mean."

"Ah, what are you, my mother now?" Shego countered with teasing look on her face.

"No, come on. Let's just go," Kim suggested.

Shego nodded and decided to not even waste her breath on the collapsed idiots. She stepped over to Kim and took charge of the redhead's shoulder, as usual. Kim leaned into her and they walked off into the night, hoping to find some place to bed down for the night.

Pain King and Steel Toe just lay on the ground, in serious agony. They knew that they should get up and get revenge on those girls, but they just could not do so at the moment. They could not even move at the moment. They refused to be made fools of by little girls, though. They silently vowed to get the two females back.

"What are you two doing lying down on the job like this? I knew I shouldn't have left you alone," a short man commented as he approached the beaten pair.

The newcomer was a very short brunette fellow. He was dressed in blue yukata with a darker blue haori (3). He had on a pair of geta, which made him look just a little taller than he actually was, but he was still short. He was puffing on a pipe and frowning slightly because his employees were laid out in a very shameful manner.

"It's nothing, Jackie-sama," Pain King answered as he and his partner tried to sit up.

"It looks like something. What happened to you two?" the short man, Jackie, inquired.

"It was nothing," Steel Toe repeated.

"No, no, no, tell me what happened. We can't have you two getting beaten up. It makes the whole deal we got going kind of bad. After all, how are you ever going to pay me back all the money you lost for me in those fights if you don't work right?" Jackie pointed out.

"It was…well, it was these two broads," Pain King reluctantly admitted.

"Two broads? You mean to tell me that two broads did this to you?" Jackie asked in disbelief. What were they, monster women or something?

"Yeah," Steel Toe answered. "But, they weren't no regular broads," he added.

"Right, they were deadly. I mean, one of them was carrying three swords," Pain King said. He had noticed the swords on Kim's hip when they first encountered the ladies, but did not think anything of it. It seemed like a good excuse to use now, though.

"So what? She's still just a broad and you two still work for me. Now, we could make some money with those broads and they might have been carrying money, so let's go get them," Jackie ordered.

Pain King and Steel Toe cringed at the thought of facing those two harpies again. It seemed like it was going to be a must, though. After all, Jackie was the boss. Maybe they could think of a way out of it, even though thinking was not their strong point.

"They were running pretty fast when they left," Steel Toe commented.

"So? We can still catch them. So, get up and show me which way they went," Jackie commanded the pair.

Pain King and Steel Toe let out very small groans. They pointed in the direction that the ladies went in and then slowly climbed to their feet when they saw that Jackie was waiting for them to get up. They all walked off in the direction of Kim and Shego. The large pair silently prayed that they did not locate the girls.

* * *

Kim and Shego had not been lucky enough to find an unoccupied home to camp in for the night, but they had come across a small cave that could fit both of them. Kim did not mind the space, but Shego was against not having a futon to sleep on. There was nothing that could be done about that, though, so she decided not to complain. Besides, she was going to get to hold Kim all night to keep her warm, so that made up for any lack of bed in her opinion.

The couple did curl up together in the cavern after Shego started a fire for some light. She did prefer not to have to act as a lantern for the whole night, which was why she had built the small fire. She then settled her back against the wall opposite the fire and gathered Kim up in her arms.

They then shared a meal together, which was just a couple of rice balls. They had food from when they were at the village that they saved from that foreigner and his killer plants. They also had canteens with fresh water from the village.

They did not start any conversations, but they did not need to. They were happy just being close to each other. It was like when they were back at the teahouse. They were totally comfortable with each other, maybe even at peace around each other again. They could not help wondering what the feeling was that the other gave them and even though they could not identify it, they knew that they wanted it to stay forever.

Kim glanced up at Shego and was about to say something, but she decided against it. Shego had given her word and was obviously an honorable person. She could not request what she had been about to say to the older woman. She could not ask that Shego throw away her honor for her. It just would not be right, she told herself.

Shego noticed Kim look at her, but she did not know that Kim was going to ask something of her. She did move her hand that was supporting Kim's back up to the redhead's neck to caress the area. She propped her leg up to support Kim's back.

While Shego rubbed Kim's neck, the redhead occupied her time with touching Shego inside her kimono. Shego was glad that Kim was comfortable with doing such things now. She was also glad that if she got the urge to do the same thing, Kim would not pull away. They both sighed contently.

And then, they both tensed. They could tell that people were approaching them. They looked at each other, as if silently asking could those guys actually be dumb enough to follow them. They nodded; yeah, those guys were probably dumb enough to follow them. Why them, they both wondered.

"I guess people don't see the importance in thinking anymore," Shego commented.

"Thinking, what's that?" Kim asked sarcastically.

"Okay, let's just knock them out and be done with them," Shego stated. She wanted everything over fast, so they could get back to cuddling and caressing. It was the highlight of her night and she damn sure was not going to let two brain-dead giant monkeys mess that up for her.

Kim did not argue that because she did not want to be bothered by the bandits anymore and she wanted to get back to what they were doing too. She did enjoy being close to Shego, feeling her body heat and caressing her. She wished that they could just stay like that, but, no, first they had to deal with bothersome morons. They exited the cave and decided to wait around for whoever was coming. A few seconds later, they could see Pain King and Steel Toe walking behind a rather short gentleman.

"What's that with them, a sprite?" Shego remarked.

"Hey, are those the broads?" Jackie asked his two flunkies as he caught sight of the female duo.

"Did he just call us broads?" Kim inquired in a rather offended tone.

"I think he did," Shego confirmed, just as insulted as her companion.

"Yeah, Jackie-sama, those are them," Pain King affirmed.

"Hey," Jackie said to the two ladies as he stood before pair. "You two, you did this to my guys?" he demanded to know.

"If you want the same, just say so. Ass kicking is our specialty," the pale woman commented with a smirk while pointing at herself and her companion.

"I tell you what, you apologize to them and I won't make you two look worse than these two idiots," Jackie stated.

Shego had to laugh at that one. She would like to see someone that barely came up to her knees do anything to her. She was with the one person that could keep up with her, so she did not think that it was possible for anyone to get the better of her. And it would be the end of the world when she apologized to two morons because they were morons.

"Is he threatening us?" Kim asked curiously because she was not so sure. After all, how was she supposed to take someone that was like two feet tall seriously? She could kick him over the treetops right now.

"I thought it was a joke," Shego answered.

"Fine, you want to do this the hard way? Get them, boys," Jackie commanded his two lackeys.

"Get them?" Steel Toe echoed with a tremble in his voice.

"Yes, get them. Now!" Jackie barked and his two men made moves toward the ladies.

"Same partners?" Kim asked Shego.

"Why not?" Shego shrugged.

The moss-hued warrior went at Pain King, having to cross in front of Kim to get to him. He tried to swing at her, but he was much too slow. She ducked the punch and went in with pressure points on the mind. She hit a number of points on his body before he even realized it and she stepped away from him. He could not even gasp and then he fell over.

"What was the point in that?" Shego wondered. She doubted that she had ever dropped someone that easily before.

"Oh, come on! Get up!" Jackie commanded Pain King.

"Sorry, but, Oja-sama isn't going to be getting back up for a while now," the green-skinned woman commented with a smart aleck smirk on her face.

Jackie snarled and he turned his attention to Steel Toe and Kim. Steel Toe was not doing any better than his fallen partner. He tried hitting Kim with his metallic footwear, but he just was not fast enough. Kim came in and hit him in his knees with a few swift kicks. He cried out in agony and fell over. She stood over him and clocked him with one powerful kick to his face, which knocked him out cold.

"Unbelievable!" Jackie said. How in the hell was it possible for two women to just beat his boys like that? They were such worthless monkeys, he shouted in his mind.

"So, are you sure you want a piece of this, little man?" Shego inquired in a boastful tone while motioning between herself and her redheaded companion.

"I'm not afraid you," the small fellow declared.

"You should be. We haven't even gotten started yet," the emerald-eyed warrior commented with a smirk.

Shego was really hoping that the little man would just run away. She and Kim had no desire just to beat on someone the size of a child like they had just done the two would-be bandits. At least the bandits were bigger than they were for them to kick around, but even that was not much fun in their opinions. If they wanted to get into a fight, they would just battle each other. It would save them the guilt and it would be so much more fulfilling and entertaining.

"You two are going to regret doing that to my guys," Jackie commented.

"I doubt it, but feel free to make us try since you're so daring about everything," Shego replied.

"How about not making us try. I don't want to fight you," Kim informed the small fellow. Her brothers were taller than he was and she was not even comfortable sparring with them because of the height difference; the age difference and skill level also had something to do with it.

"Too bad. You're going to and you're not going to like it. I'm going to destroy both of you and once you're completely worn out, I'm going to sell you to a brothel," Jackie proclaimed while putting his pipe away, stashing in it his obi.

"This guy is delusional," the redhead muttered.

"Not to mention longwinded. Shut up and come at us if you're such a tough guy," Shego ordered the guy. She was sick of just standing there sharing air with the moron. She had been nice and relaxed with her princess in her lap and she wanted to get back to that as soon as possible.

Jackie finally took Shego up on her offer, which she was thankful for, even though she did not want to kick the ass of a weakling. She did want to get back to her comfortable evening, though and if the fastest way to do that was to punt that shrimp, well, she was about to kick him like they were playing kemorai (4) and he was the ball.

He went at both ladies, jumping between them while attacking. They backed away and he went at Kim with some jump kicks. She put her arms up to block and pushed him away when his feet connected with her limbs. He fell back, knowing that he landed near Shego. He turned around to attack her.

Shego nearly rolled her eyes as he came at her with some punches. It was not that he did not know what he was doing, no. He seemed to know what to do much better than his goons, but he was still knee high. He could not hurt her as far as she was concerned and she kicked him away from her just because she wanted him to stop embarrassing himself.

Jackie slid across the ground thanks to Shego. He grunted as he came to a halt and coughed up some dirt. Shego put her hands on her hips and sucked her teeth. Kim sighed and folded her arms into her sleeves.

"Just stay down," Shego practically begged the little man. She should not have to fight with someone that she could more than likely step on and never notice it.

"You two think you're so hot?" he inquired with a growl.

"Well, yeah, there's that and the fact that you're kind of a bad," Kim informed him, hoping it would get him to just give up. They had better things to do with their time, after all.

"That's what you think," he said.

"What the hell kind of thing is that to say?" Shego asked. He was obviously bad. There was nothing to think about.

Jackie climbed to his feet and turned his attention to the two ladies. They did not look too impressed with him, but he believed that he was about to change that. He was going to show them why no one made a fool of him.

"You two don't know who you're dealing with," he warned them.

"Well, shut up and show us. Damn it, we were doing something before you showed up, you know," Shego stated, her annoyance now very evident in her voice.

"You asked for it."

Shego and Kim just stood around as Jackie pulled out a gem that was on a string. He put the jewel around his neck and it began to glow. He chuckled, thinking that he was shaking them up already it would seem. They were actually not too impressed; Shego especially since she could make her hands glow and she thought that was a bit more special than making a rock do it. Whatever he was doing, they hoped that he could do it quickly, so they could get things over with.

Jackie then began to growl as it seemed that the necklace was starting to do whatever it was that it did. They noticed that his ears grew along with some hair. His teeth began to grow long and sharp. He transformed right before their eyes and they each craned an eyebrow.

"Well, what do you think?" Jackie inquired, his voice now a growl.

* * *

1: Oja: king.

2: baka: fool; stupid person.

3: haori: a hip or thigh length coat worn over a kimono

4: Kemorai: it was a ball game, like soccer, and nobles were expected to know how to play.

* * *

Next time: the fight continues with the new and improved Jackie.


	24. Jackal?

I don't own these characters.

24: Jackal?

"So…what's he supposed to be?" Shego inquired as she and Kim gazed upon the transformed Jackie. At least he was taller, the pale woman thought.

"A tanuki (1)?" Kim guessed.

"Maybe a wolf?" Shego said.

"Well, an inu (2) of some kind," the redhead assumed.

"I'm a jackal!" he declared in an angry growl. He could not believe that they were just standing there as if he had not done something extraordinary. In his opinion, they needed to be begging him for their lives right now. After all, he had just transformed into a huge jackal god.

"A jackal?" Kim echoed, looking to Shego in case she knew what he was talking about. She had never heard of a jackal before.

"I don't know. I'm going with a wolf. He's got brown fur and everything. Shouldn't you be running then, little kitsune?" Shego teased.

"Ha, ha, ha," Kim replied sarcastically.

"What's wrong with you two? Don't you get it? I'm a demon," Jackie declared. He figured that putting things into terms that they could understand would garner more appropriate responses from them, like falling to their knees and pleading with him not to devour them.

"No, really? Us too," the green-skinned woman commented with a devilish smile.

"No, you're not," Jackie argued forcefully.

"No, really, we are. She's a fox spirit. In fact, she's a nine-tail fox spirit," Shego lied.

"Whoa, what are you talking about 'nine-tail fox'? You're going a little too far with this," Kim informed her companion. It was bad enough that she had to put up with being called a fox, but now Shego was just going too far since a nine-tail fox spirit was a most powerful spirit; the most powerful of any fox (3).

"She's no nine-tail fox," Jackie called the green-skinned woman's bluff.

"No, she is. And I'm just your average, run-of-the-mill pissed off female," Shego said and then she ignited her hands. "That can do this," she added in with a smirk.

Jackie was taken back by her ability. He had never seen anything like that. He then glanced at Kim, considering that the redhead might actually be a fox spirit like Shego claimed. He quietly assured himself that it was nothing. He was a demon too. He could take them down with no problem, he assured himself. He would paint the lush forest floor with their blood and have them begging him to stop, have them screaming that they would do anything for him to stop.

"I don't care what you can do!" Jackie declared and he charged Shego.

He took a swing at her and Shego found that he was much faster than he had been before he had transformed. He also had some help with the new height that he gained because of his change and he landed the blow. Shego grunted, more in surprise than pain, but he was just getting started. She turned her attention to him, scowling deeply.

"Is that all you got?" Shego inquired in a dangerous tone. She was a bit embarrassed that he had hit her, especially since her companion was standing right there and had witnessed it. She could not let him get away with that.

To answer that question, Jackie charged over to her and engaged her in combat, attacking her with a series of punches. Shego blocked and dodged everything that he threw at her, but she was unable to counterattack. She just did not have the extra limbs to do so. She would be damned if she was going to allow him to make her look bad in front of her little kitsune.

"Not so confident now, are you?" Jackie asked in an arrogant tone.

"I'm always confident," Shego proclaimed and she forced him away from her as she blocked one of his strikes. She then launched herself at him coming in with a glowing slash attack.

Jackie growled in anger as she cut him across the chest. He snorted as he turned look down at the wound, which were four slash marks that were burned closed. Was she really a demon too? It was the only way to explain how she was able to even touch him in his opinion.

He went at Shego again and punched her. She blocked, but the force was so great behind the hit that it sent her skidding back a few yards, leaving heel marks in the ground; another few inches and she would have crashed into a rather thick tree. He did not give her a chance to recover and leaped at her, hitting her again. She grunted as she flew back, going through the tree that she was inches from and then stopping because of a tree that was yards away.

"Um…should I help?" Kim asked, not enjoying watching someone beat up on her companion of course. She wanted to jump in and teach that jerk a lesson to never touch Shego in a harmful manner again, but she was not sure if Shego wanted that.

"Stay out of it!" Shego snarled as she ducked another punch just in time.

Jackie connected with the tree that Shego had impacted and the plant cracked where his knuckles connected. The pale woman moved in with an uppercut slash attack while he was open and she nearly sliced his jaw open, but he countered before she connected. He punched her with his other hand right into the ground.

Shego bounced when she hit the dirt from such a powerful hit. She coughed in unexpected pain. Since when could someone hurt her, except for Kim anyway? Since when was anyone as powerful as the mutant before her was anyway? She could not believe that she was being beaten up in front of her lover.

"I'm not going to take this lying down," Shego remarked and she flung a plasma sphere at Jackie before she even climbed to her feet.

"What's this weak attack?" Jackie wondered out loud and he foolishly allowed the blazing orb to connect with his chest. He hissed in sheering pain, not knowing just how hot that plasma was.

"Never call my attacks weak," Shego ordered him as she stood up.

"Filthy wench!" he snarled and ran at her.

He seemed faster, the pale woman noted. She blocked his attack of several punches because she would not have been quick enough to dodge them. She silently noted that he seemed to be getting stronger too because her forearms were throbbing from blocking him; she knew that she was going to be sporting a number of bruises later on. He landed a punch on her cheek and it was like he nearly took her head off with that blow.

Shego's body twisted as his fist connected with her face. She landed on the ground on her side and made an impact crater. Blood oozed out of her now busted lip and she knew that she was lucky that he had not broken her face with that strike. She groaned and tried to force herself back to her feet, but it was rather difficult at the moment. It was like he hit her with a mountain.

"Shego!" Kim cried and she tried to run over to the green-skinned female to help since she could see that Shego was in some pain. Shego was actually willing herself to suck up the agony.

"Stay where you are!" Jackie commanded as he turned to her and shot beams of energy at Kim from his eyes.

The redhead thought fast and pulled her katana halfway out of the scabbard to reflect the beams. It worked quite well, but it left her open to attack. Jackie was on her as soon as she was about to completely remove her sword from the sheath. He batted her away from the scene, knocking her back almost a hundred feet. Kim rolled like a rounded stone and settled on her back when she ran out of momentum. As soon as she was halted, Jackie came out of the air and planted his feet in her abdomen.

"Ah!" Kim cried out in agony. She coughed and a few droplets of blood flew from her mouth.

Jackie then kicked the slender samurai away from him as if she was trash. She coughed again as she halted and a small trail of blood came from her mouth. Jackie smirked and was about to go over to kick her around some more, but someone else got his attention.

"Hey, mutt! Get the fuck away from her before I'm forced to kill you," Shego ordered him with a fire blazing in her emerald eyes. There was almost an animalistic snarl tugging at her top lip after seeing what he dared do to her little kitsune. She was going to beat him unconscious just for hurting her lover.

Jackie turned around in disbelief to see that Shego was not only still alive, but apparently still able to fight. She was standing and she had her hands up, ready for another round. She had an almost murderous look in her eyes, which he thought was a bit amusing. It just did not seem real to him after the strength behind the punch that he had landed, but there she was. Ah well, he thought; he was just going to have to get her to stay down now. After all, she was no match for him now and even if she was a demon, he was on the level of a god. Besides, she was the one with the bruised cheek, bloody lip, and he knew that her arms were probably worthless now from all of the times that she had used them to block his fists.

"What's the look on your face?" he asked Shego, mocking her and her outrage from the things that he had just done to Kim.

"Nothing for you to worry about," she answered, the expression in her eyes not fading in the slightest. No one was going to hurt her kitsune and get away with it. No one.

"You don't know when to give up," the mutant commented.

"No, you don't know when to give up. I'm not going to let anyone treat my princess that way, dog-breath," Shego replied.

"You're in no position to stop me."

"That's what you think," she stated and her hands flared up brightly to the point where it looked like she was holding a green bonfire in each hand. She was so vexed that she did not even know that she was burning more intensely than she ever had in her life. She just could not stand the fact that he had hurt Kim and she was not going to let that action go unpunished.

"Bring it on, bitch," he stated with confidence. How was one injured woman going to do anything to him, after all? She did not even have backup anymore since he had taken care of her partner, who he was now certain was no nine-tail fox from the way she was so easily dealt with.

"You look more like the bitch to me."

Jackie snorted in anger and Shego decided to attack. She charged him with reckless abandon; he thought that it was almost comical. She was so angry that the only thing on her mind was cutting him down and the fastest way to do that was going straight at him. He threw his hand out and fire shot out. The orange blaze that let loose went straight for Shego, but she did not even think to change course. She cut through his fire with her hand and continued on. He was so shocked by her boldness and ability that he could not think for a couple of very precious seconds.

"Yaro (4)!" Shego practically howled in a fury as her flaming claw strike connected with his abdomen.

Jackie hollered in sheer agony as she burned him deep, going right through his thick hide into the meat of the matter. He clutched his pained belly and Shego just came in again with the opposite hand, clawing upward. She slashed his chest and then she finished with a strong punch right on his cheek. He stumbled back and that space between them was the only reason her combination halted.

Jackie righted himself just in time to see Shego coming in for more. She had pure hatred blazing in her emerald eyes hotter than the fire coming from her hands and she attacked with another vicious swipe move, attempting to rake him with both blazing hands. He caught her hands, thinking that he had her and he was going to just tear her arms out of the sockets, but she acted first.

Shego merely took the chance to kick the demon dog since he had his hands occupied. She clipped him right on the muzzle, making his teeth click from the force. He dropped her thanks to the blow and she landed crouched in her fighting stance. She sprang right back at him, punching him in the face. All she wanted to do was keep going at him until he could not move anymore. Her mind just commanded her to attack and keep on attacking until it was clear that he was not going to be able to do anything properly ever again.

Jackie fell back a little bit, but he did not go down. He countered and punched her back. The hit did connect with her face and she felt a rush of pain from it, but she did not even waver. She decked him again and again; attack, attack, her mind kept telling her. She was not going to let him beat her, not in front of Kim and not if it meant that he was going to start on Kim when he was done with her. Jackie managed to grab her fists to stop her, for the moment anyway.

"Why do you even persist?" he asked in a manner that suggested he believed she was stupid for even trying. "I'm going to win eventually," he pointed out. He always won eventually, especially when he transformed into the jackal.

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing. I was also going to say that you shouldn't hold my hands like that, unless you want to get burned anyway," Shego remarked.

Jackie did not seem to realize that he was holding what seconds ago had been pretty much stars, but for some reason they were not particularly hot at the moment. Shego's fists then ignited with a burst of power that caused him to scream in pain. He backed away, waving his hands to relieve the searing pain of her flames.

"Let's see you make a fist now, asshole," Shego commented and she ran at him.

Jackie took a backhanded swing at Shego to keep her from injuring him further. Shego was starting to consider that she might want to end things as quickly as possible as she was starting to run out of steam; igniting her hands to the level that she was happened to be much more than her body was used to and it took a lot of energy to maintain. She needed to do something before she used so much of energy that she would not even be able to make a spark let alone flare her hands.

She then turned her attention to the necklace that Jackie was wearing. He had put the thing on when he turned into the big mutt that he was, so she figured that removing it would get him to go back to normal. It was worth a shot anyway.

Shego went at Jackie again, attacking with her usual slash moves. He growled at her and the fact that she just kept coming at him like a pesky insect. He was going to put an end to her, he promised himself because he was sick of having to deal with her; not to mention, she was dangerous and he did not want to chance any more injures to her claws. He dodged her assault and then grabbed her by the throat as soon as he had the chance; it hurt his burned hands, but he did not care at the moment. He picked her up by the neck and squeezed tightly.

"I'm going to snap your neck, bitch. And then you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go and break the redhead's fucking legs. And then do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to sell the stupid whore into a brothel," Jackie informed his captive in a rather angry tone for a guy that thought he had won.

"You know, you talk a big game for a little fuck," she replied in a forced out voice since it was particularly difficult to speak with his hand crushing her windpipe. She noticed that she was in a good spot, though. He was close by, within arm's reach actually. That was just what she needed.

"You talk a lot of shit for a bitch at my mercy," he retorted.

"Is that what you think? I'm at your mercy?" Shego actually laughed.

"Yeah," he answered and he squeezed her neck, reminding her who had who. "I think you are."

"I think you're wrong," she stated and she took just about the fastest swipe move ever at him.

Jackie gasped as her hand went right through the chain around his amulet. The necklace dropped to the dirt, followed by Shego. Jackie fell back while Shego coughed and rubbed her now sore neck. She watched and hoped that worked. She was not too sure if she was up for round three with that demon.

Jackie hollered as he began to change again. He shrunk back down into his human form, his proper form. He looked down at himself with an expression of sheer disbelief.

"No, no, no. Where's my amulet?" he asked in a panic. He knew that he was no match for that she-beast he had been battling without his gem.

"You looking for this?" Shego inquired, holding up the necklace.

"Hey, give that back," he ordered.

"I'd rather not. I bet you you'll cry if I do this," Shego commented and she ignited her hand to the highest level she could. She melted and crushed the gem by making a tight fist. She then dropped it to the ground when she was done.

Jackie looked down at his magic amulet and what Shego had done to it. It was just a mass of melted goo now. He crawled over to it and grabbed it, burning his injured hands even more so than they already were. He tried it to see if it still worked, only to find out that it was now as worthless as it appeared.

"NO!" Jackie screamed at the top of his lungs.

"If you don't want me to do the same to you, little man, I suggest you get your ass out of here right now. You don't want to see what I can do to human flesh, now do you?" she inquired. He shook his head in response to that. She smirked. "Good, so how about you get a move on it and make sure I never see you again."

Jackie was not sure what he wanted to do. Should he run? No, he could still take her, he told himself. She had to be on her last leg now. After all, their fight had been long, hard, and grueling. She could not have much left inside of her now, he convinced himself. She could not be much of a challenge anymore, so he charged her.

Shego sucked her teeth and kicked the short man with ease. His head snapped to the side and he fell to the ground. He coughed and started breathing rather hard. She rolled her eyes, disgusted and annoyed that he persisted even now. Did he just not know when he was beat?

"Get out of here, dipshit. I don't want to have to kick your head off of your shoulders. I also don't want to ever see you again, so if I do see again, you're not going to enjoy it," the pale woman informed him.

Jackie finally took Shego up on her offer and started fleeing in the direction that he came in. He left his two unconscious lackeys lying there in the middle of the forest. They had been beaten up by Kim and Shego earlier. They would just have to find him later on.

Shego turned her attention to Kim. She ran over to the redhead. She carefully gathered Kim in her arms and cradled the smaller female.

"Kim-hime, you okay?" Shego asked in a concerned voice. There was a sorrowful, worried look in her emerald eyes.

"Yeah, stomach hurts like hell, though," Kim answered with a weak smile. She did not want her companion to worry about her since she was relatively fine.

Shego laughed a little and put her hand on the teen's belly. She gently caressed the area, which kept Kim smiling, even though her stomach was killing her. The green-skinned woman was just happy that they were both going to get to walk away from that battle. She was also glad that Kim was not seriously hurt, but the redhead was still injured, she reminded herself.

"You need a doctor," Shego stated.

"No, I'm fine. I just need a good night's sleep," Kim insisted. She was a tough girl. She could take a lot of punishment.

"I'd rather get you to a doctor," the pale woman replied while climbed to her feet and continuing to hold her little kitsune.

"Shego, I'm not some helpless little girl. I can take a harder beating than this. I don't need a doctor," the younger female persisted.

Shego did not respond. She was not trying to hear anything that Kim said if it involved her not going to a doctor. She hoped that there was a doctor nearby, either one in a town or one on the highway. She was going to have to make it back to the highway too.

Kim stopped protesting when she saw that Shego was not going to pay her any mind. They traveled in silence, thinking about the fight that had just occurred. Shego had been intense and Kim wondered why she had not been so fiery when they had fought. Yes, Shego had been rather severe when they fought each other, but against Jackie, she seemed almost like another person. She wondered why that was.

"Shego, are you all right?" Kim asked curiously. She wanted to ask so many questions, but she was not sure if they were all right to ask. Some of them, she did not even want to think about anyway because of the subject that would have to be brought up to discuss them.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine," Shego lied. She was pretty beat up, but she was going to press on until she felt safe in putting Kim down.

"You know, I can walk," the redhead said. She did not want to tax Shego's body any more than necessary, knowing that Shego could not be as all right as she was pretending to be.

"So?"

"You can put me down and save your strength."

"I've got more strength than you know, so shut up and relax," the raven-haired woman commanded.

"Stop being so stubborn. Let me walk."

"No," Shego said sternly. She was going to take care of her princess. She was going to protect the girl, even if Kim could do it herself. She just felt like it was necessary for her to guard Kim. Maybe it was because that was about all she could offer now.

It was not like Kim needed any material possessions that Shego could provide. Who knew what would happen when the journey came to an end anyway, which was something that neither of them even wanted to think about. So, right now, all Shego had was protection, in her own opinion anyway. Kim seemed to know that was on Shego's mind just from looking in her eyes.

"When it comes to a fight, I can take care of myself," Kim stated.

Shego frowned at that because Kim was right. The redhead had beaten her, after all. She was worthless to Kim then, was she not? Her heart lurched in her chest. She was useless to the small creature in her arms. It was not fair, she silently lamented.

"But," Kim continued on. "Just because I can doesn't mean I don't think it's really sweet that you're helping. I just don't want you to wear yourself out. After all, you're the one that took care of that demon."

Shego smiled a bit. Kim was trying to spare her ego, it seemed, but that was not the case. She was telling the truth, but it was actually hurting Kim's ego a little bit because she was the one that had been dropped so easily and she was the one being carried. The pale woman looked at her and she could tell that the redhead's pride was stinging just a bit.

"Consider this payback for when you carried me out of the rain," Shego said.

Kim nodded slightly to that one. She guessed that both of their egos had taken some checks around each other. The redhead then smiled out of the blue and snuggled into Shego's chest. The pale woman arched an eyebrow and then she smiled warmly, pulling Kim close to her. Maybe it was all right that their pride took some checks around each other. It seemed to have brought them closer and they were not going to complain about that.

Shego picked up her pace and they did hit the highway. She peered as far up the road as she could in the dark and noticed lights. Was that a checkpoint or was it just a town? Maybe it was both.

"That's a checkpoint, isn't it?" Kim asked as they came closer to the lights.

"Yeah, and we all know how you are with inspection points. I'll take us around," Shego replied.

The redheaded warrior did not object to that, especially since they would not have been able to get through the checkpoint if Shego was still carrying her anyway. As far as she knew, Shego did not have a passport to go through any inspection posts. So, the pale woman took a detour back into the woods and searched for the easy way into the town that was just beyond the checkpoint. Her belief was that there was always an easy way and there was.

* * *

Kim was lying on her back on a futon in a hotel room. She had already been seen by a doctor. It had been Shego's mission to have that done, so as soon as they got into the town, Shego went searching for a medical professional. When she found the doctor, she presented Kim to the man. The girl had been a little shy about having a man examine her. She was used to her mother being her doctor.

The examination had not been too intrusive. The doctor inspected her abdomen, which had some heavy bruising. Nothing was broken or too damaged. Kim then insisted that he inspect her raven-haired companion too, which Shego did not like much, but she put up with it to ease any worries that Kim might have about her wounds. Shego was bruised on both her arms and back. He prescribed some balm to both of them for their injuries and then kicked them the hell out of his house. He had been sleeping before the two crazy females showed up; it was the middle of the night after all.

Shego and Kim went to a hotel afterwards. They cleaned up and shared a bath, but they were too tired to do anything. They retired to their room, which was where they were now. Kim was lying down and Shego was sitting against the wall next to her, sipping a cup of tea.

"How're you feeling?" the pale woman asked.

"Could you stop asking me that? I'm fine. I told you, I'm pretty strong myself," Kim replied with a bright smile. She smiled because she wanted to set Shego had ease. It was nice that the green-skinned woman was worried about her, but she did not want to stress the older female out. She was also a bit annoyed that Shego was so worried about her.

Shego just stared at Kim. The redhead was strong, she reminded herself. She supposed that her mind was having trouble with that because of the way that she met Kim. Her girl was a fighter, though, she told herself. It was one of the things that attracted her to Kim. It was one of the things that she loved about Kim.

"Love?" Shego muttered to herself as the thought raced through her mind.

"Huh?" Kim said.

"What?" Shego asked.

"I thought you said something, but I didn't hear it," the redhead explained.

"No, I didn't say anything," the pale woman replied.

"Okay."

Shego went back to drinking her tea and thinking about the word that went through her mind, love. That could not be what it was, right? She stared down at Kim and shook her head. Nah, it was not love, she told herself. It was something, something powerful, but not love. Someone like her would never fall in love, especially when she doubted that she would be able to keep the person.

Kim glanced over at Shego when she felt those emerald eyes on her. She liked that Shego looked at her, even if she did not know the reason why. It just made her feel warm inside, like most attention from the pale woman did.

"Are you going to lie down or what?" Kim asked Shego in a lighthearted tone. She wanted to curl up next to the older warrior now.

"Could I finish my tea?" Shego countered in a playfully teasing voice. She would like to get in the bed too, but she had to stave off her sudden craving for tea. Besides, she found that certain teas interacted with her body in a positive way and assisted her already speedy healing process.

"No," the redhead replied.

"Shut up," Shego said in a good-natured tone.

Kim smiled bit and settled into her pillow. Shego finished her tea and put the cup down. She undressed; Kim was already down to her yukata since she was in the bed. The pale woman put out the lanterns around the room and moved in next to Kim. The redhead abandoned her pillow, in favor of resting against Shego's shoulder. They exchanged a kiss before going to sleep.

--(Next day)

Kim and Shego sat in a restaurant and ate breakfast. They had looked around town and noticed that there was a lot of commotion going on. They found out that the town was going to have a celebration later that day. It seemed that they had a festival to honor the founder of their town, complete with fireworks and, of course, all kinds of games and food.

"You want to stick around for it?" Shego asked her companion.

"Yeah," Kim replied energetically. She would love nothing more than to hang out at a celebration with Shego at her side. She was willing to bet that it would be a blast.

So, they stayed around and got to join in the celebration that night. The first thing that Shego did was get Kim a mask. She shamelessly presented her princess with the mask, even though she knew that it was going to just set the redhead off. It was a fox mask and Kim looked rather offended by the gift.

"Come on, kitsune. Don't look so down," Shego said and she leaned down, pecking Kim on the lips.

"Shego," Kim said in a whisper and she jumped back because of the shock from the public display.

"Put the mask on for me," the pale woman requested.

"You get me some candy and I will," Kim bargained.

Shego chuckled a little and did just that. Kim had not expected the candy, but she did not turn it down. She then put the mask on, backwards. It was good enough for Shego. The pair strolled through the attractions set up for the festival, looking for games and ways to impress each other. They walked by a young man and did not notice him, but he noticed them.

"Wow," he muttered.

* * *

1: tanuki: a raccoon-like animal indigenous to Japan. I think it's called a raccoon dog.

2: inu: dog.

3: Explanation on the nine-tails fox: fox spirits were believed to gain a tail every thousand years of life and with each tail the spirit got more powerful. Nine tails was the most that any fox could achieve and they were a force to be reckoned with.

4: yaro: bastard; despicable person.

* * *

Next time: whose attention did the ladies just grab? And who was he wow-ing at? Could it lead to trouble? Probably.


	25. Masquerade

I don't own these characters.

25: Masquerade

Kim and Shego were going through the attractions of a festival happening in the town at that they were in. The festival was in celebration of the founder of the town. They were picking up information here and there about the guy that started the town, such as the fact that his descendents were still the keepers of the land. They supposed that was pretty impressive; okay, not really. Kim just did not want to be rude when people gave them the history of the town and Shego was not paying attention anyway because she did not care about the background of the little spot on a map.

The two ladies were unaware that one of them had just caught the attention of someone else, a young man to be precise, while they were wandering the festival. He watched them carefully and then when Shego walked off, going to get something to eat, he moved in on Kim.

"Hey, there," he greeted the redhead.

Kim turned, surprised by the young man because she had not been prepared for someone to come up to her. He was an ebony-haired fellow that had a look that reminded her almost instantly of Du Will. It was just that he was dressed much fancier than Will probably ever would because she could not recall a time that she saw Will dressed in a kamishimo (1), but then again, she tried her best to only see Will when they had to work together and even then, she did not like the sight of him. Still, it would be utterly pointless of Will to ever show up for a mission in a kamishimo.

"Um…hi," the redhead replied, trying not to show how awkward she felt, but it was not coming out as well as she hoped. Her face was apprehensive and her body language seemed to be suggesting that she wanted to walk away from him, which she did. Anyone that reminded her of Du Will had to mean trouble in her mind.

"I'm Prince Wally," he introduced himself, walking with her.

Well, she supposed that explained his outfit. Wally was dressed in a grey kamishimo. His katiginu (2) and hakama were a light grey. The kimono that he had on underneath the kamishimo was a dark blue. He amazingly enough looked neater than any person that Kim had ever seen and that said a lot considering how anal Will was about everything, his clothing included.

She also noted that Wally seemed more pompous than Will and he had only said two sentences to her. It was just the way he said those sentences, in a voice that suggested heavy snobbery. The way that he was standing even seemed to scream elitist, arrogant jackass. The look in his eyes declared that he believed that the rest of the world was beneath him and she should consider herself lucky that he would even grace her with a few words; lucky would not be the word that she used to describe it.

"I'm Kim," she replied. She made it a point to not give her family name to strangers when out on the road. Her grandmother knew way too many people and she did not want things to get back to that woman or she might never hear the end of it.

"You are a fair creature. I'm shocked to see someone like you around here. There's usually no one worth my time around here during festivals," Wally informed her.

Kim was not too sure what she wanted to say to that one. Maybe question the fact that he thought a girl wearing a fox mask backwards was worth his time. How odd was that? She could have pointed out the fact that he was a prince and she was a girl with no family crest to speak of on her clothing to even hint at her status beyond the swords on her hip, which was weird too. Perhaps, she could have brought up the fact that he had approached her as soon as Shego walked away, which seemed a bit odd. But, she did not go with any of those.

"Maybe you should try to give people more of a chance," Kim commented while looking around for her companion. She wanted an excuse to walk away from him because she did not like the vibes that he gave off.

"I think I'll start right now," he remarked with what he thought was a charming smile, but it was not quite there. It was just that he had that air of superiority around him that she did not take too well to and that prevented his smile from being anything but arrogant.

"Kitsune, I thought we agreed that you'd stay loyal," Shego remarked smoothly as she came up behind Kim. She had on a travel hat again, covering a good deal of her face. She leaned over Kim's shoulder, draping her arm on the seemingly irresistible redhead. She was smiling, which was barely visible thanks to the hat shadowing her face.

"Yojimbo-san," Kim said. She was not sure if the pale woman was trying to be act like her male companion to get Wally away from her or if Shego just had a thing for hats.

"Who's your friend, kitsune?" Shego asked in a low tone. She was just looking to have a bit of fun since she saw that fancy dressed jerk trying to talk to her princess.

"I'm Prince Wally. Who are you? Aside for some obvious ronin (3)," Wally commented, still sounding very uptight and snobbish. He looked a bit disgusted with the newcomer, obviously upset with interruption.

"Oh, oji-sama (4)," Shego said in a mocking tone. She lightly fingered Kim's kimono just to start more trouble. She wanted to show that she was close to the redhead in ways that the prince could only dream about, although she would rather he not even dream about her little fox.

"That doesn't explain who you are," Wally stated in an almost demanding tone with a hard look on his face. He was not sure if Shego was the person that had been walking with Kim or not now with that hat on.

"Hmm, I guess I'll be 'yojimbo-san' for the moment, oji-sama. You seem like you're mighty friendly with my kitsune. Do you two know each other?" Shego asked, just to keep the conversation going since Wally did not seem to be enjoying things. She was going to make things as uncomfortable for him as possible since he was trying to pick up her girl. He was probably going to try to talk her into compromising her virtue and even though Shego knew that Kim would not do such a thing, she did think that it was very wrong of Wally to disrespect her companion in such a way.

"We've only just met," Kim informed the raven-haired woman.

"Oh, only just met. He seemed so familiar with you, though," Shego commented. "Or maybe he just wants to be familiar with you," she corrected herself in a suggestive manner with a new smirk on her face.

Wally seemed to get the implications behind those words and went rigid at the very idea. He could not believe that the filthy ronin would suggest that someone of his status would consider such things. "Why, I'll have you now I'm the perfect gentleman and would never think to do anything improper," the prince insisted and it took all of Shego's self-control not to laugh.

"Who said anything about you doing something improper?" the green-skinned woman inquired. It was clear from her tone that she was teasing, to Kim it was clear anyway. Wally bristled at that.

"Listen, you," Wally said in a commanding tone with a threatening look in his eyes, as if he planned on punishing Shego for such implications. He did not get to finish his threat, though.

"I'd rather not. Come on, kitsune. Later, oji-sama," Shego said in disrespectful tone while turning Kim around and walking away with her.

"Shego, you didn't need to make him so uncomfortable," Kim stated while trying to hide her amusement. She was doing a poor job of it and doing the one thing that she was trying not to, namely encouraging Shego's bad behavior.

"Yeah, I did. He was trying to pick you up as if you were some common courtesan or worse," Shego remarked. How dare he disrespect her girl like that? He was lucky that she had not hit him for his actions.

"You think?" Kim asked curiously. She had not believed that things were going that way, but as she thought about it, maybe her companion had a point.

"Yeah, I do. So, don't even worry about him anymore. How do you like my hat?" Shego inquired with a playful smile and she ran her fingers across the brim of her new hat.

Kim laughed a little. "Why do you wear these travel hats?"

"You don't like my hat? You don't have any taste," Shego teased.

"You don't have any taste. That hat is awful," the redhead stated.

"You know what, just for that, I'm not buying anything else for you while we're here," the pale woman said. Kim laughed a little more, even though she suspected that she might have just talked herself out of several little gifts.

"Come on," Kim whined. "You're not being a very good boyfriend," she teased.

Shego balked at the very suggestion that she was "a boyfriend." It was a good thing that she had on the hat or Kim would have noticed the complete expression and she would have never let Shego live it down. Shego then tried to play things off to make sure that Kim did not know that she had gotten to her with that one comment.

"Well, you're not being a loyal kitsune, talking to that guy and everything," Shego shot back.

"He was talking to me. He thought he was so great because he's a prince. He even introduced himself as a prince," Kim pointed out. She seemed rather offended by that because she knew that he was trying to throw around his status.

"You know, just because you don't introduce yourself as a princess doesn't mean everyone else is the same," Shego stated.

"Not really a princess considering my grandmother is still in charge of the Possible district of land and even if she wasn't, my dad wouldn't inherit it anyway," the redhead explained.

"Don't try to make it seem like you're not a noble," the emerald-eyed woman commented, a taunting smirk on her face. She saw that she had an opening and she was going to go for it. Now, she was going to spend the festival taunting Kim about her noble status. Too bad Kim had missed her reaction on that "boyfriend" comment or she would have had ammunition to fire back with.

* * *

Wally watched as Kim walked off with the mysterious ronin. He could not believe that a vagabond had such a wonderful creature to spend the festival with. Kim should be celebrating with him. He was a prince, after all. His father's castle was right there, looming over the city. It was rivaled by only the castle in Edo in his opinion. The celebration that they all attending at the moment was in honor of his ancestor. So, why should he not be able to have Kim if he was such a great prince?

He did not see a reason as to why he should not have Kim. He was not going to let that shiftless ronin have her. So, he walked off to return home and speak with his father. He wanted to tell the older man about how he ran into the most heavenly creature of all time. His father seemed a bit amused through the whole thing, but he did listen to his son go through everything. He also made sure not to smile while the young man went through the tale.

"So, what should I do, Father?" Wally inquired once he was done relaying the encounter between him, the heavenly creature, and the ronin that ruined everything.

"I don't know, my son. This girl might be beneath you," his father pointed out. He would prefer his son did not trouble himself over a girl that might be classless and worthless when he could easily obtain a better female, but for whatever reason that he wanted the redheaded girl for. And his father could guess the reason, even though neither of them spoke it aloud since they were gentlemen.

"No, I saw her, Father. She was certainly an angel and she was someone of status," the young man argued. He was certain that she was someone just because of the look that she had and the way that she carried herself.

"Well then, I suppose we should look into obtaining her then, if only for a look at her. Do you know where she is?" his father inquired.

"Well, I just saw her at the festival. She was with this irksome plebeian. The fellow had an awful hat and black hakama. I don't know what she was doing with that filthy ronin. The girl, she was a wonderful redhead. I've never seen anyone like her. She was enchanting," Wally sang Kim's praises.

"An enchanting redhead?" the older man muttered. His mind went right to where most people's minds went when it came to Kim. Perhaps she was a fox spirit, he thought. It would explain why his son was so enraptured with her.

"Yes, she was lovely. You'll see, Father. We just have to get her here and you'll see," the boy insisted.

"All right, all right. I'll see about getting this girl tonight. There can't be many redheads with ronin in the city."

Wally nodded in agreement with that. He was glad that his father thought like he did because the whole reason that he told his father about the girl, well, aside for the fact that he thought she was best looking girl ever, but because he knew that his father would assist in him looking to make the girl his. His father did have a habit of spoiling him.

* * *

Kim held Shego up as they stumbled into their hotel room. The pale woman had had just a little too much to drink. Kim was a little embarrassed by it when they were outside. She was not very used to being around people that drank alcohol like Shego did. In her family, everyone just drank regular tea. Every now and then, her grandmother or her uncle might have a taste of alcohol, but nothing to get themselves tipsy like Shego was.

"Hey, Princess, that sure was fun, wasn't it?" the green-skinned woman whispered into Kim's ear and she then nipped the body part since she was next to it. Her hat was now on her back since it had fallen off her head.

"Yeah, it was," the redhead replied as she put Shego down. "You stay here and I'm going to go find something to sober you up."

"I don't need sobering up. Don't go anywhere. Come here," Shego urged the younger female and she grabbed Kim by the hand.

The olive-eyed samurai yelped as she was tugged down to her pale companion. Shego embraced Kim as soon as the smaller female was on her. Before Kim could get herself, Shego was deeply kissing her. Kim did not fight the kiss, but she was still trying to get herself from being sprawled out on raven-haired warrior. Shego was not helping much, though.

Shego reached out and began caressing Kim. The redhead gasped and then moaned. She nearly fell over, but she put her hand down on the floor to brace herself. She then remembered that Shego was drunk, so she started pulling away, only to have the drunken woman follow her.

"Shego," Kim whispered against the super-powered female's lips since that was as far as she could get away.

"What?" Shego replied.

"I'm going to go find something to sober you up," the younger woman repeated.

"Let's look at it this way, Princess."

"What way?"

"I'm sober enough to kiss you and know that we should be naked instead of talking. That's fucking sober," Shego declared. She thought that was close enough anyway and even if she was drunk, she did not have to do anything for the rest of the night but lay with her princess, so she did not see why she could not just stay tipsy.

"No, it's not. You're really drunk."

"So what? You got a problem with that?" the pale woman inquired, seemingly insulted in the way that only an intoxicated person could be when it was pointed out that she was drunk.

"You're drunk, tenshi (5). Let me go get something to help absorb that alcohol," Kim replied gently.

Shego was taken back by the sudden pet name for her and did not object. Kim took the few seconds of silence to leave the room. Shego stared at the closed door that the redhead had just gone out of her. Tenshi? Had Kim really just called her that? She knew that Kim had done just that because of the warm feeling spreading through her.

No one had ever called her an angel before. Every time someone saw her, they quickly assumed that she was a demon of some kind. People always called her "oni" or "akuma" before she even did anything to them. Even in her family, her older brother always tried to make it seem like she was the bad one of their bunch. She was always the one that did something wrong, even if she did not mean it or know it.

"Tenshi…" Shego whispered to herself. It made her smile. The nickname seemed to have that sobering affect that Kim wanted to come over the pale woman.

The emerald-eyed female sat there in a position of sheer concentration. She put her hand to her chin and rubbed her chin with her index finger. Was that what Kim saw when she looked at her? Did she really see someone worthy of being considered an angel? She would ask when Kim came back and it did not take too long for that to happen.

"Hey, Shego, the inn keeper told me that this is really good for hangovers," Kim said as she came in with a cup. She went right over to the green-skinned woman and handed her the cup of warm liquid.

"You do know that hangovers are what you get when you wake up after drinking too much, right?" Shego asked while looking down at the cup. She was actually a little touched that Kim had even gone and gotten her the drink. It was rare that people went out of their way for her; in fact, she could not recall the last person to do it.

"It's the best I could do," the redhead replied as she sat down next to her companion.

"Kim-hime, you called me something before you left the room. Did you mean it?" the older woman inquired.

"Did I mean it?" Kim echoed.

"Yeah, did you?"

The petite female thought on it. It was a nickname that just came to mind at that very second, but she supposed that she did mean it. Shego was like an angel to her. A drunken angel at the moment, but an angel nonetheless.

"Yeah, I did," the redhead confirmed with a nod to emphasize her answer.

They sat in silence for a moment and then Shego suddenly turned to Kim. She leaned down and placed a deep, tender kiss on the younger female's mouth. Kim guessed that she had said the right thing.

"You are so wonderful," Shego whispered as she pulled away for a breath. She also put her cup down off to the side to avoid making it a casualty of anything that she might do for the moment.

"So are you," Kim replied and she stole a few pecks around Shego's mouth.

Shego was starting to understand that she liked being praised by Kim. She thought that she had always been the type that liked to be complimented, but it was different with Kim. It mattered so much more. She never wanted to let the younger warrior down because of that. She wanted Kim to always be able to praise her and not be lying when she did it.

"Kitsune…" Shego muttered. She wanted to say something, but she did not know what to say. So, she leaned down and kissed Kim again.

The green-skinned woman wrapped her arms around Kim and lowered the slender female to the floor. Shego began reaching down for Kim's obi, looking to get Kim out of her clothing. She went for the sash with one hand while her other hand was searching inside Kim's kimono, wanting to touch her skin.

And then, they both stopped at the same time. They looked around and they both sighed. It would seem that their evening was going to be about a different kind of fun. Why was it always something when they were alone together, they both silently lamented.

"Damn it, just when I was about to score," Shego remarked.

"You weren't," Kim teased.

"Yes, I was. You were about to be screaming my name."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yeah, you were."

Shego moved off of Kim and they sat up in a rather alert fashion; Shego tried to move her cup again, hoping to save its contents. Moments later their small room was invaded by ten masked men. They glanced at each other and rolled their eyes; they just did not think that what was about to happen was worth what they were going to do. The masked assailants went right at the ladies, which was fine by them. Kim and Shego sprang into action.

The pale woman went at a man with a straight punch to his face and broke his mask; he was knocked cold with that hit too. Kim went with a powerful kick and knocked another guy through the door. As Shego got her balance, she spun around and kicked a third man. Kim leaned in head-butted a fourth man while hitting a fifth man that was behind her with the end of her sheathed sword. The fourth man fell back while the fifth coughed in agony, which was about all he had time to do as Shego grabbed him and used him to hit a sixth man by flinging him over her shoulder.

"What the hell kind of women are these two?" one of the men wondered in sheer disbelief before he became the seventh man hit.

Kim took care of the eighth man with a combination of a hand strikes that the guy barely saw, but he certainly felt them, collapsing to the floor as soon as the assault ended. Shego worked the ninth guy out with her own combination of punches and he ended up on the floor too. The last guy made a retreat and they decided to follow him, if only to see who was behind the interruption of their evening. The guy did not seem to notice that they were following him since the only thing on his mind was escaping the fate of his comrades and he ran right back to where he came from.

"You know, this is a pretty nice castle," Shego commented just to be ridiculous as she and Kim stood at the edge of town. They were on a rooftop, staring at the castle of the daimyo in charge of the land.

"You don't think Prince Wally behind this, do you?" Kim asked.

"Doy," Shego answered. "He thinks he's getting his hands on my hot, little fox, he's got another thing coming," she remarked.

Kim glanced at Shego, not sure where she start commenting on that sentence. She decided to just let it go. They stood there for a while, figuring out what they should do. Should they just go in the castle and shake Wally until he knew better than to mess with Shego's "hot, little fox" or should they just leave the town?

"I say let's go in there and beat the snot out of that little arrogant piss-ant," Shego declared while punching her fist into her palm.

"I don't think we should do that. It's a lot of trouble and we don't need that kind of attention and everything," Kim objected.

"He needs someone to teach him a lesson and I'm that person. How dare he just come and try to take my princess," the pale warrior declared with a huff.

"Calm down, Shego."

"No, no, no. Would you be calm if he tried to take me?" the green-skinned woman inquired.

Kim opened her mouth to answer, but she quickly shut it. Someone take her tenshi from her? The sun would sooner fall out of the sky before she allowed that to happen. Okay, she might not be so calm if someone tried to take Shego, but she was not about to admit that. One of them had to be rational about things, after all.

"How about we sleep it off? If you're still mad about it, we'll go tomorrow and confront him," the petite samurai suggested.

Shego sighed, but found that she could not turn down the little redhead. They returned to the hotel and Kim politely requested that they get a new room considering the fact that they had unwanted guests knocked out in the other one, not that she mentioned that latter bit. But, the inn keeper was not as friendly as she hoped and refused the request. Shego brushed her to the side.

"Let me show you how to do it, Princess," the older female commented.

"Um…okay," Kim replied while planting herself of to the side and behind her companion.

Shego grabbed the inn keeper and held him off of the ground by his clothing. He seemed incredulous by the strength that the woman possessed. Kim had guessed that Shego was going to do something intimidating, but she allowed it without a word because they did need a new room; they had broken the door on the other one, after all, so even if the men that they had beaten up were gone, they still were not planning to stay there.

"Now, I think she asked you for a new room. You might want to try for a different answer this time," Shego informed the inn keeper and she tightened her hold on him a little, just for him to get the idea that she could hurt him a great deal if he gave the wrong answer.

* * *

"This room is even better than the other one that we had," Kim commented as she and Shego settled into their new hotel room.

"You just have to know how to talk to people," Shego remarked with a devilish smirk.

"You just have to know how to bully people," the redhead taunted her companion.

"Hey, I'm no bully. I just know how to get people to do what I want," the raven-haired woman said and she grabbed Kim from behind. She pushed the red mane to the side and placed some tender pecks on Kim's neck.

"You think that'll get you what you want?" the younger warrior inquired while trying not to sound like she was giving in.

"I know I will. I've got power like that."

Kim smiled a little bit, but she decided to play coy, trying to resist Shego. Resistance only made Shego more persistent, which was expected. It was rather entertaining in their opinions, but the main event was the best of course.

* * *

"Father, your men failed," Wally whined to his father, who was actually trying to sleep. That meant nothing to the boy because he really wanted that redheaded female and he wanted her now. He wanted her to be his woman and he could get to know her, in many different ways.

"Wha?" the daimyo asked as he sat up in a daze. He looked rather puzzled because of the way that his sleep had been disturbed.

"Your men failed. What are we going to do now? I want that girl," Wally declared loudly.

"Then you shall have her, my son. Just wait until morning," his father replied while holding in a yawn.

"But, I want her now!" the boy stated, stomping his foot while hollering.

"You'll get her soon. Let me sleep, boy."

"How will I get her in the morning?" Wally asked curiously.

"We'll get some people to go get her. More than ten. Now, leave me to sleep, boy," his father said.

"But, what are we going to do, Father?"

"I'll handle it in the morning," his father said in a rather grumpy tone.

Wally did not take the hint and continued to whine until his father cracked and just told him everything that he had planned. With that, Wally was satisfied. He exited the room and let his father sleep, which the daimyo was thankful for. In the morning, they would settle things.

And that was what they did. When the lord woke up, he sent for one of his men. He questioned the man about connections that he had with some yakuza nearby. The man confirmed that he did have connections with some gangs, so the lord informed him to tell the gangs that he was offering a reward if they could bring to him a slim redheaded woman. So, he went spread the news and met with the yakuza leader on the highway, not too far from the town. He explained the situation.

"Aniki, it's really easy money if you take this job," the man said.

"I'm not worrying about the money, seriously. I'm totally wondering if these are the same girls I'm looking for. If they are, the prince can have Aka-chan, but I get to keep the green on'na (6), seriously," Motor Ed informed the messenger.

* * *

1: Kamishimo: a two piece outfit made up of a vest and hakama, which was typical attire for samurai and court officials of the time.

2: Katiginu: the vest part of the kamishimo. It had wide shoulders and the back sort of hung like a cape, but not very long.

3: ronin: masterless samurai.

4: oji-sama: prince.

5: Tenshi: angel.

6: On'na: woman.

* * *

Next time: what new trouble does Motor Ed bring to the table? Will he get the "green on'na" while Wally gets Kim? Maybe it'll be the other way around.


	26. Decisions

I don't own these characters.

26: Decisions

Shego groaned as her eyes were starting to realize that there was sunlight invading the room. She reached for something, anything to cover her face with. The first thing that she grabbed was Kim's arm; it was very close by. She covered her eyes with Kim's limb. It worked until the petite samurai moved. Shego groaned again.

The pale woman began reaching for something else to cover her face, something that would preferably stay in place once she used it to save her from having to wake up. She was still tired and she did have a minor headache. She guessed that Kim was right; she was drunk last night. Ah well, at least she did not have anything to do and she could just sleep off the hangover if she wanted to. But, first, she had to block out the accursed sun and go back to sleep.

She eventually got her hands on a blanket that Kim was mostly using and she tossed it over her head, yanking it from her companion without a care. Kim eep-ed as the morning air hit her nude form and she woke up immediately. She covered herself with her hands as she sat up to figure out what happened to her sheet. She turned to see that her companion was using it as a shield for her eyes.

Kim, who was not ready to be wake yet either, snatched the blanket back. She settled back down on the bed and covered herself. Shego growled in a low tone when she felt the sunlight bothering her eyes again. She reached for the blanket again and stole it back, only for Kim to yank it again. Shego frowned and took the cover back, but it was stolen again.

"Will you just give it to me," Shego demanded, or maybe whined. It was hard to tell with her being tired, annoyed, hungover, and speaking to Kim. Her hangover was not too bad; there was a slight pounding in her head, but not much. It was just enough to make her want to sleep the morning away, though.

"I had it first," Kim replied, her eyes still closed as she was still attempting to go back to sleep. She had a good grip on the cover too, just in case her companion had it in her head to tug it away again.

"So?" was the brilliant retort.

"It's mine."

"So?"

"So, you can't have it," the redhead stated as if that was most logical answer of all and in her opinion, it was.

"Selfish," Shego hissed.

"If you wanted one so badly, you shouldn't have thrown yours across the room," Kim reminded the green-skinned woman like an annoying little-miss-know-it-all in the older warrior's opinion.

"I was hot," Shego complained, as if that was relevant to the argument. She had taken her blanket and thrown it on the far side of the room some time last night. She never slept with a cover, even if it was snowing outside. She never seemed to get too cold, but she easily got hot.

"Well, you shouldn't have thrown it to the other side of the room. You should've just put it to the side," the redhead reasoned.

"What are you, my fucking mother talking like this? Just give me the fucking blanket," the pale woman ordered.

"You will have to pry this blanket from my cold, dead hands."

"Don't tempt me, kitsune. Just give me the damn blanket."

"No."

"Give it to me."

"No."

"Give it to me."

"If I just said no all the other times, why the hell would you keep asking? Do you think I'm going to change my answer? Get up and go get yours," Kim proposed.

"That's too far. Just give me yours. You're not using it," Shego argued.

"Yeah, I'm not using it to cover my eyes, but I am using it to keep warm."

"What the hell do you think I'm here for?" Shego remarked and she pulled Kim close to her. "Better?"

Kim nodded because she certainly was not cold anymore. But, she still was not in the mood to just lie naked out in the open, especially since they had already had people burst into their room once before. So, she did not give up the blanket.

"You're being really annoying, you know that?" Shego huffed.

"It's mine," Kim replied.

The fire-starter grumbled and started patting above her head. There had to be some article of clothing nearby, she thought. She felt something and grabbed it. Perfect, she thought as she saw what she had. She had gotten her hands on her obi. She put that over her eyes and settled down to get some more sleep and hopefully to get rid of her tiny headache.

Since Shego was no longer acting up, Kim was able to go back to sleep too. They both noted in the back of their minds that they had never really been big on sleeping in, but they did not mind it at the moment considering who they were sleeping next to. One of them hoped that they would be able to do it more often while the other wished for the same thing.

They tried not to think about things like that, though. They preferred living in the moment more than anything else while they had the chance. There was no tomorrow to them until it was today. They just did not want to think about the future because the possibilities actually frightened them. The idea of being apart scared them, so they found not thinking about that to be better than considering that it was a part of their future. They tried their best to just focus on the now rather than the later.

When they woke up the next time, they decided to get up for something to eat. Shego still had a bit of a headache and it seemed like everything going on outside was too loud for her, causing her head to throb when she heard just about anything. She guessed that whatever that drink was last night did not help hangovers as much as the inn keeper thought, or perhaps, she was getting a fraction of what she would have gotten if she had not drank that mess. She actually had almost not taken the concoction because of the disturbance last night, but Kim had gotten her a second cup of it.

The duo got dressed, one tying her hat around her neck while the other put her fox mask on backwards again, and then they went outside. They hardly walked ten feet before seeing someone that they never wanted to see again. It was not a good way to start the day that much was certain.

"Hey, Aka-chan," Motor Ed greeted Kim with a proud smile. He was standing in front of them with a couple of his inventions behind him; the self-moving carts. One held his sidekick while the other one just had two of his other crew members.

"I don't need this today," Shego said while messaging her temples. Her headache was getting worse just from the sight of the blonde monkey. As bad as it might sound, she wished that he was dead, really. It would just make the world a better place in her opinion if he was not living anymore.

"Take it easy. I'll handle this one," Kim informed her companion since she knew that her lover had a headache. She sounded rather confident about that, which eased Shego's nerves a bit.

"You've got an appointment with a prince, Aka-chan, seriously," Motor Ed told them as he cracked his knuckles.

"Maybe you can handle this while I go crush a certain prince's big head," Shego stated while cracking her own knuckles. She knew from the past that Kim could handle Motor Ed and much more than three of his goons, so she felt safe with leaving the redhead with that idiotic group.

"Oh, no, you shouldn't leave, Midori-san (1). After all, you've got an appointment with us," Motor Ed commented with a smirk.

"I'm not following this at all. Is it because I'm hungover or because he just doesn't make any sense?" Shego asked Kim.

"I think it's that he doesn't make any sense. But, I'm guessing he's giving me to Wally-sama, but plans to keep you for himself," the redhead explained. She did not know what other prince might want her and that was why she guessed that he was planning to give her to Wally.

"Seriously, because Midori-san is, like, totally hot," Motor Ed commented, confirming Kim's theory. Well, Kim did agree that Shego was totally hot, but there was no way in hell that she was going to let him have the pale woman.

"This is gross on so many levels I don't even know where to start objecting to the plan," Shego stated while shaking her head a bit.

"Don't even bother. Let me handle it," Kim said again, just as confident as before. She was actually more determined than before since Motor Ed seemed to think that she was just going to let him take Shego from her. Four bad guys was really nothing in her opinion, especially since she knew that they could not fight all that well. All she had to do was watch them in those self-moving carts.

"Yeah, you handle this," the pale woman agreed with that while glancing away to her right. She figured that it was all right to trust Kim with what she considered light work, even if the morons had kidnapped Kim once, but they had no element of surprise right now. She was sure that a warrior like Kim would be able to handle it. Her redheaded companion stepped forward.

"Aka-chan, you can't handle this on your own. There are more of us then you're seeing, seriously," Motor Ed informed the redhead and then suddenly a dozen or so men came out of nowhere.

Kim ducked several attacks and went into fight mode. Kim struck with a quickness, sharpness, and gracefulness that would make a cat's jaw drop in disbelief. Motor Ed could hardly believe his eyes. His crew was being beaten by one small female. She knew that she would be able to take them considering the fact that she had already done it once before.

The redheaded warrior dropped her opponents as quickly as she could, tearing into them with the fastest, strongest palm strikes that they had ever felt. But, while she was cutting into them and dropping them with great ease, a vehicle came at her and nearly mowed her down. She leaped out of the way and looked at the self-propelled wagon, more of which were coming out from alleyways.

It would seem that Motor Ed and his people had modified their vehicles. On the front there were still spikes, but there was also what looked like a plow. It was triangular cut and went from the bottom of the vehicle to just high enough for the driver to see over it. It had metal spikes coming out of it too, so even if they hit Kim at a low speed, she was still going to have some heavy injuries.

Also, to make sure that she could not jump over the vehicles and kick them in the heads again, their vehicles now had coverings. It was simple tarp over the self-propelled cart, but it was enough. The covering could keep her kicks from being as on the mark as before if she did try it and since the tarp was tied over the vehicles, they hoped that it would keep her leg from reaching the drivers.

"You guys just want me to pull my sword, don't you?" Kim remarked with a smile. She was still sure that she could handle the group, but it was probably going to take more time than she thought considering how many of them there were. There was also the fact that she was in a town now and not an open area like she had been before. She was going to have be more careful because there were bystanders somewhere around.

"Get her!" the blonde man commanded his gang.

The still standing men attempted to put a fist or foot on Kim, but she worked them out again. She then had to dodge a vehicle again. Someone pulled a gun and aimed it at her, but she was out of sight before he could fire a shot. Next thing he knew, his gun barrel was hitting the dirt and his target was standing next to him, sheathing her sword. He gasped.

"I don't really like guns, you know? Any idiot can fire a gun," Kim commented with a serious look on her face.

The man gasped, as he knew that he was about to feel the wrath of Hell against his body and he was just about right. Kim gave him quite the hurting from a series of kicks, all directed at his lower ribs. She only stopped when he fell to the ground in dire agony. She really did hate guns, especially when they were used so easily around a town where just about anyone could be hit.

Kim then had to move out of the way as one of the other men tried to hit her from behind. She grabbed him and flung him over her shoulder. She held him down and worked his chest with punches as quickly as she could before having to turn her attention to more opponents and also having to get out of the way of a few vehicles.

"Come on, seriously! Get her!" Motor Ed barked.

"We're trying, aniki!" the few men still standing replied.

A couple of other vehicles joined in the effort, but trying to hit Kim with anything was like trying to hit a fly with a boulder. They did notice that she had not problem hitting them, even if they were in their vehicles. What no one noticed was that Shego was gone; she had been gone since the chaotic battle began.

* * *

Shego was humming softly to herself as she calmly jogged down the street. She had dashed away when all the confusing fighting started with Kim and Motor Ed's gang. Once again, she did trust that Kim would be able to handle the combat, especially since she had already taken care of the gang once before, which was why she felt all right with stepping away. It was good that Kim was such a great warrior, Shego thought. She had something else that she wanted to take care of since Kim was being all cute and defending her honor and she was certain that Kim could handle herself while she was gone. The action made her like Kim all the more.

Shego felt special. When was the last time someone defended her honor? She was not sure if there was a time. Maybe when her father was alive, he had done it, but she could not recall such a time at the moment; she did not see why he would have to do that as she thought about it. So, right now, Kim was the only person in existence to ever defend her and it was a precious feeling.

It was odd. She thought that she would be angry if someone ever tried to stand up for her. It was as if the person would be saying that she was weak, but since it never happened, she never found out. While it was happening now, she liked it, but she considered that it was only because it was Kim. If some arrogant prick of a guy tried it, she probably would beat his head in. She suspected that Kim was the same and she was right on the money with that guess. Another thing that they had in common seemed to be that they were both possessive of each other, which she had guessed long before Kim stepped up to Motor Ed for her.

The best that she could do in her opinion was return the favor, which was what she was planning to do now. She disliked that someone thought that he could just steal Kim from her and that would make Kim his. What kind of mindset was that anyway? She did not get what made someone think that they could just snatch another person and keep that person. Maybe it worked, she considered, but she would never know because she never tried it and was not looking to try it.

She was not looking to find out if it worked with her kitsune either, so she was going to nip a certain problem in the bud as soon as she could. She was calm with what she was about to do, even though many people might consider it a suicide mission or at the least a fool's errand. She thought that it was the best thing that she could do for a certain big headed prince in order to save his life. After all, if he kept acting stupid, she was going to have to do something very painful to him, something that he just would not like.

She arrived at the castle minutes after she started out for the place. She had to handle some hardheaded guards that did not seem to understand that she was trying to save Wally's life. She also had to use some smarter guards to find out where the idiot prince was hiding himself. They were easy to deal with, even though she was suffering from a slight headache. Having clawed hands that could be set ablaze came in handy, Shego noted a long time ago.

Once she found out where to find Wally, she made her way there in a flash. She surprised him by a pond in the inner workings of the castle. He was feeding some fish and she approached him as if it was going to be that easy, which she was aware that it would not be. Guards came out of nowhere to engage her in combat.

Wally turned when he heard the sound of battle. He was shocked to see what was going on. Shego was surrounded by five guards, who were dressed as gardeners as disguises. He did not seem too worried, which was why he did not run away with an intruder in his area. After all, his guards were the best in his opinion.

"Only an idiot would do something so brazen as to come here with the guards that we have," Wally commented to himself.

Shego was not in the mood to dance around with the guards, especially when that arrogant prince standing only a couple of yards away from her. She let them taste her claws for them to get the idea that they were no match for her, cutting through any weapons that they had with them. They did not seem to take the hint.

Shego rapidly sliced up one guard until he had literally lost his shirt to her and was bleeding rather badly from his chest. She lifted a guard up that was coming up behind her and she flung him into the pond that Wally was feeding fish. She then had to dodge a man with a sickle. She moved out of the way of the blade and cut through the handle of the weapon. The guard looked incredulously as his weapon was dismantled.

"You could run if you want," Shego teased him before hitting him with her best punch. He collapsed instantly.

There were still two guards, but Shego noticed that Wally was now trying to make a getaway. She acted quickly and dashed toward him. She grabbed him by the back of the neck while the guards were dumbstruck that she could move so rapidly. Shego had Wally in her grips while his guards were still over six feet away from them. She put her nails to Wally's throat and the protectors stopped before they had even started.

"What are you two doing? Come save me," Wally ordered them.

"They're not going to move, oji-sama," Shego commented smugly. The guards had observed what her bare hands could do and they had just seen how fast she was. They knew that she could decapitate Wally before they even got a foot closer.

"It's you, isn't it? The ronin," Wally said, which did not make any sense to him. The way the ronin had been acting when he met the vagabond, he had been certain that the ronin was a man and Kim's lover.

"It might be."

"You're a fool for coming here," the prince proclaimed arrogantly.

"So says the fool who is at my mercy," Shego remarked and she pressed her nails into his neck, cutting into his flesh slightly for him to understand just who was in charge. Tiny drips of blood oozed from his pierced skin.

"What do you want? Money? I can give you plenty," Wally stated, obviously all too aware of his precarious situation.

"I'll bet you could, but I don't want money. I might not look it, but I've got more than I know what to do with. I've noticed that you're very fond of my kitsune," Shego replied.

"You're kitsune?" he echoed in a tremble of a voice. He wondered how it was possible for her to have such claws. Was she a demon of some kind?

"Kim. She's my little fox. I don't like that you're trying to take her from me. So, I tell you what, you forget that you ever met her and I'll make sure we never see each other again," the green-skinned female informed him.

"What?" Wally asked as if he was outraged by that very sweet deal in Shego's opinion. After all, she could always just tear his windpipe out of his neck and move on with her life.

"Look, I don't need you acting like an idiot. I've got a fucking headache and discovered I've got a really short temper, shorter than usual, when it comes to people trying to pick up my kitsune. Now, you forget about her or this is going to get fucking messy," Shego growled as she dug her claws into his neck a little bit more.

Wally whimpered a bit and in that moment, his guards spring into action. They began throwing shuriken at Shego. She threw Wally to the ground and ignited her hands. She was able to deflect the weapons with the plasma protecting her hands. She then threw her own projectiles.

"These work better," Shego remarked as she let the plasma spheres fly and they connected with the guards. Both men fell back and Shego turned her attention back to Wally, who was quivering on the ground.

"What are you?" Wally inquired through chattering teeth.

"Never mind that. Are you going to forget about my princess or am I going to have to make you forget?" she asked with a snarl, her hands still blazing grass green.

Wally whimpered instead of responding and then she noticed a big wet spot in front of his hakama. She frowned in disgust; to think that such a cowering worm could even try to have her girl. What would he do with Kim? What made him think that he was worthy of her?

"I'm going to take the piss stain as my answer. Don't think about Kim anymore. She's not some whore that you can just pick up or buy or something like that, dickhead," Shego stated firmly and she left. Wally breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Kim dropped the last of Motor Ed's men, sending the blonde into a fury. She hated that it had taken so long, but she had to make sure that the least amount of damage happened to the town or the people there. The blonde leader snarled and turned to his vehicle, which was being watched by his short sidekick. He grabbed the small fellow and flung him out of his invention. Motor Ed then aimed his vehicle at Kim, who was a few yards away.

"How about a game of chicken, Aka-chan, seriously!" Motor Ed practically sang. She had already taken his other vehicles by having his men crash into various large items.

"I don't think this is a very fair game, seriously," Kim mocked him as she put her hand on the hilt of her katana. She had not really had to use the blade, just out maneuvering her opponents and attacking them with her fists or feet when it was necessary.

"It's designed for me to win," he declared with a maniacal laugh.

"That's not what I meant."

Motor Ed's creation powered forward and Kim did the same. The blonde male began to laugh more as they drew closer and closer. The samurai pulled her sword in the blink of an eye and metal met metal.

The laughter stopped along with the vehicle. Kim was standing behind it, sheathing her weapon. Motor Ed's expression was incredulous and then his vehicle broke down, split completely in half. He hit the ground, landing on his rump.

"I told you the game wasn't very fair," Kim commented rather haughtily as she turned to look at Motor Ed.

"You cut through my whole ride, seriously," he muttered in disbelief.

"You'll be next if you ever think about taking Shego from me. She's not some prize you can claim, not some toy you can steal. So, leave her alone because if you thought this sword went through your tinker toy with ease, just imagine what it's like going through human flesh," Kim stated in an almost menacing tone.

Motor Ed did not respond. He just passed out. He could not take the fact that she had sliced through his invention with such ease. She had gone through his baby pretty much and it was just too much for him.

"You got a pretty good sword there," Shego said as she walked up to Kim, coming from the wrong direction in Kim's opinion because she was coming from behind the samurai. The green-skinned woman was glad to see that she had not made a mistake in leaving Kim on her own. She was a fantastic little samurai, Shego silently noted.

"It was made by the best swordsmith in the land," the redhead replied. Her swords had actually been gifts from her grandmother when she became an adult; it was weird for a woman that swore she needed to act more like a noblewoman to offer her the very weapons that made her a samurai.

"You know, you sounded almost sinister threatening his life like that. I almost believed you would do it," the pale woman said with a teasing smile on her face.

"Maybe I would," Kim argued as she walked over to meet Shego and they started walking the direction that Shego seemed to be coming from.

"I doubt it. You're too good. You don't even draw your sword until the last minute. Let's get some breakfast and then get out of here," Shego suggested. She had noted that in that game of chicken, the redhead had not pulled her sword until the last possible moment.

Kim nodded in agreement with that. The duo had their meal, got some food to go just in case they had to spend a day or two in the woods, and they made their way out of town back onto the road. They quickly found a side path to take, with the hope of avoiding any other inspection posts. Shego put her arm around Kim and they strolled on.

They walked on at a leisure pace as they had done through out their whole journey. They knew that they were delaying the inevitable, but they did not care. They just wanted some time alone and some time together. There was no tomorrow, they kept telling themselves. There was only today. Today was all that mattered.

They ended up camping out in the woods, which bothered Shego slightly. Kim was used to better things, but she was not so opposed to sleeping on the ground that she would complain. Shego seemed to like to complain just for the hell of it and she was grumpy about sleeping on ground until Kim curled up next to her, snuggling into her chest. Okay, maybe it was not so bad, she silently conceded.

--(New day)

Kim and Shego could see a village in the distance of the path that they were on. They wondered if it would be a good place for them to get some food. They had finished off their reserves for breakfast and they would not mind having lunch if it was possible.

As they got closer to the village, they saw people working in the fields, which they expected. What they did not expect was the few large, fully armored and armed huge samurai. They looked around at the odd sight.

"Wow, maybe if Senior-sama had a few hundred men that size, he probably wouldn't have even needed Drakken," Shego commented.

"I doubt there are a hundred men that size," Kim remarked.

Shego was about to say something, but both of their attentions were turned to a horrible sight. They watched one of the samurai push an obviously pregnant woman down and he seemed to be about to draw his sword on her. Shego knew what was going to happen before it even happened.

"Let it go, Princess," Shego said. "It's none of your business," she pointed out.

Kim did not listen. She sprang into action. She dashed forward with her hand on her sword hilt and she pulled the weapon. She used her blade to block the weapon of the other samurai as he was about to bring his sword down on the pregnant woman. Kim grunted as the force came down on her and actually pushed her deep into the mud. She strained to take control of the situation and pushed the samurai back. Kim then got into guarded stance, standing in front of the woman to protect her.

The gigantic samurai snarled and he moved forward to attack Kim. Shego came out nowhere, leading in devastating punch. The samurai made a strange noise as the blow landed and fell to the dirt. His helmet rolled off of his head.

"Damn it, Princess. Why do you have to go helping people and crap?" Shego complained.

"Are you all right?" Kim inquired, speaking to the fallen woman. She also leaned down and offered a hand to help the woman up.

"Yes, thank you. You shouldn't have interfered, though. It will only put you in danger," the woman informed Kim, who smiled.

"Don't worry, danger is something I'm very familiar with," the redhead remarked, still smiling in a very friendly manner.

Shego rolled her eyes and decided to go check on the unconscious samurai. She nearly fell back when she saw his face. She did not even know what she was looking at.

"Um…Princess, I don't think this is something you're familiar with," Shego commented.

"What do you mean? You seen one jerk, you've seen them all," Kim replied as she walked over to look for herself. She almost jumped when she saw the guy. "What the hell is that?" the redhead inquired.

"Told you you're not familiar with it," Shego remarked.

* * *

1: Midori: green.

* * *

Next time: so, what does the samurai look like? And watch as Kim and Shego help out some more villagers in distress.


	27. Watch this

I don't own these characters.

27: Watch this

"Okay, seriously, what the hell is that?" Kim inquired in utter confusion. She and Shego were staring down at a giant samurai that Kim had rescued a pregnant woman from and that Shego knocked out with one punch. There was an anomaly with him, though.

"He looks like a big monkey," Shego commented as she shoved his head with her foot. He certainly had a monkey head and it was covered in black fur.

"But, how did a monkey get that big?" Kim wondered out loud. She would guess that it was some kind of demon; it was the only way that she would be able to explain how a monkey ended up about the size of two grown men.

"Hell if I know," Shego replied and then she turned her attention to the woman that Kim had saved. "Hey, what's with the big ass monkey?" she inquired while nodding down at the fallen samurai.

"They're watchers," the pregnant woman answered. She spoke in a small voice, mostly from fear and exhaustion. She was an average looking female with long raven hair that was tied in a ponytail. She looked sickly, even though she was tanned from working in the fields undoubtedly, and she appeared very weary to the two travelers that were giving her a good look since they had eliminated the threat to her.

"Yeah, that explains a lot. Not! Watchers for what?" Shego inquired and then she started looking around to make sure more of them were not coming over to check on. And she was right to check.

"We do seem to be having company," Kim noted too. More of the so-called Watchers were approaching them and they doubted that it was for a friendly conversation, especially if they were all giant monkeys.

"I told you not to help," Shego admonished her companion. While she enjoyed a good fight, she would rather not have to deal with hulking, stinking monkeys.

"Oh, so I'm supposed to just let a big monkey thing kill a pregnant woman?" the redhead asked incredulously.

"It would save me a lot of trouble," the pale woman replied.

"Yeah, like you would've just let that happen," Kim taunted her companion.

Shego only looked at the redhead. Fine, so she would not have allowed the thing to just kill a pregnant woman, but she knew that she did not have to react since Kim would. And since Kim reacted, Shego was free to act like she was totally annoyed with everything that was going on. The pale woman liked that system.

"All right, there's only four of them. You take two and I take two and we don't help anymore," Shego stated.

Kim did not agree with that; she just ran off. She leaped into the air and went in for a kick in the head on one of the samurais, who were in total armor, including helmets that hid their faces. She took off his helmet with that move, but did not drop him. Without the helmet, it was revealed that he was also a giant monkey with long black fur. He snorted in anger, breathing some very funky air in her direction. Kim hit him with a few punches in the head until he did fall; she did have to jump for such an attack and dodge his counters as he attempted to stop her.

She then leaped over to the next primate and kicked his helmet off too, revealing yet another large, dark-haired monkey. He hollered at the lose of his helmet, displaying some rather sharp canine teeth and showing that his breath smelled even worse than the other creature's breath. He pounded his chest in some kind of display that went way over her head and she really did not care. She wailed on him too until he dropped, having to jump again for all of her attacks, and then she settled on the ground once she was done.

Shego did not go as far as Kim had. She did not knock off the helmets of her opponents because she was not looking to forward to finding out if they were monkeys too. She kicked them in the heads too, but she hit them hard enough to dent the helmets and knock them out cold without having to remove the helmet first; she also did not have to suffer smelling their breath. They fell over, joining the other three monkey samurai in the mud of the rice field.

"Well, that was easy," Shego muttered while looking down at the fallen creatures.

"Maybe that was the B squad," Kim remarked. She was looking around the field just to make sure no other giant apes were going to charge out at them. All she saw were tired-looking people working in the rice field, though.

"Well, let's get going then," the green-skinned woman stated, as if they could just beat up some samurais and leave like no problems were going to come up. She knew that things were probably not going to go that way, but she had to chance it.

"We can't just leave. We have to make sure that everything is all right around here. What if some other warriors come back and try to kill her again?" Kim asked while pointing to the pregnant woman that they saved, who appeared rather incredulous to the work that the two travelers had just done. Shego rolled her eyes in annoyance while the rescued female gawked at them.

"So, you were telling us that these things are watchers. So, what the hell are they watching? What's going on around here?" the pale woman asked the female that they rescued. She hoped that a question would get the woman to stop looking at them as if they were just as freaky as those giant primate-things.

"They're around to make sure that we work in the fields for as long as the lord demands it," the tired pregnant woman answered. She finally regained some manners and stopped looking at Kim and Shego as if they were freaks. Her dark brown eyes did give a hint of awe that she was feeling just from seeing them in action, though.

"We just had to be on the road when every freaking daimyo is not in Edo," Shego mumbled and she shook her head. She was willing to bet that if it was the time for all of the lords to be in Edo, they would have had quite the relaxing trip, save the couple of times when bandits were a problem.(1)

"Do you guys get worked hard?" Kim asked while looking around. She saw that the people were still working the field, even though she and Shego had knocked out the guards. They were really into their work too, making sure not to lose speed, even though the "watchers" were out.

"It's wearing down on some of us, but others would be out here anyway. The problem is that we don't get much of what we grow, no matter what it is. Friske-sama takes almost everything," the woman informed them. The explanation did help them understand why everyone looked they suffered from malnutrition and exhaustion.

"Oh, boo-hoo," Shego said, even though she knew that Kim's heart was probably breaking in half for the people. She was hoping that they could wrap things up soon and she could get out of the puddle that they were standing in, even though she knew that her clothing was going to be muddy even when they stepped out of the water. She already knew that they were probably going to have go "chat" with Friske-sama considering the fact that one of his men…monkey…thing…whatever was about to slay a pregnant woman for no reason. She would like to "discuss" the matter with him; the discussion would include her fist in his face and a lot of yelling about how he had no right to just kill people for no reason.

"Why?" Kim asked the pregnant woman while making sure to ignore her snide companion. The redhead had an intent look on her face, which displayed her interest more than her questions did. It was obvious that she wanted to do something about what just happened.

"We don't know what he does with everything, but he's left us all at the brink of poverty. It's believed that he uses the food to feed the watchers. We really don't know," the rescued female answered. It made sense to them that he would use the food to feed such large beings; they had to require a lot of food because of their size.

"I could go talk to the guy for you. I mean, this isn't cool that he's got these watcher things out here and they're pushing around a pregnant woman and everything. That thing was about to kill you, after all. Does that happen often?" the redheaded samurai inquired curiously. If it was something that happened often, she might need to do a little more than talking to the daimyo; little did she know, but Shego was well ahead of her with those thoughts.

"It happens very often," the woman stated, adding a nod just to show her seriousness and that she was telling the truth.

"That doesn't seem very productive. If he kills you guys off, then he doesn't have anyone to work the fields and crap," Shego pointed out. Why was it that tyrants and madman could not be practical too?

"He doesn't have to worry much. When travelers come through here, the watchers take them captive and they're forced to stay here," the woman explained.

Shego sighed; so, the guy was practical. That was new and she did not like it. She glanced down at Kim, who looked determined about something. Shego knew that the redhead was determined about stopping what she perceived as an injustice. Shego figured that she could go along for the ride, complain a little, but in the end, have some fun and do a little good in the world because she was not very much in favor of what was going in the village herself.

"Tell us all about this thing," Kim gently demanded from the pregnant woman.

She had no problem telling the duo about what was going on, even though she had already filled them in on most of what she knew. The watchers were all huge monkey monsters. They were there to make sure that the villagers always worked, especially growing food. The creatures often beat and killed the villagers, even small children, for the smallest mistakes or just stopping to rest for a moment. They stole travelers that tried to pass through the lord's domain and she pointed out many such taken people, who were out there working that very moment. The only rest that the people got was when they were allowed to sleep.

"Fiend!" Kim growled with almost hatred in her voice while heatedly punching her fist into her palm.

"Is that his castle?" Shego calmly asked while pointing toward a palace in the distance. She was pretty outraged with the gall of the daimyo, but she was not going to let it show like her companion. Heaven forbid she gave off the impression that she actually cared about people and their wellbeing.

"It is," the pregnant woman confirmed.

"Come on, kitsune," Shego sighed in annoyed fashion.

"Huh?" the redhead asked in a confused tone. Where did Shego want her to go?

"You want to stop this guy from terrorizing these people, right? We're going to need to go find him to do that. So, let's moving. If we do this quick enough, we might be able to get some lunch out of these people," Shego commented. The whole reason that they had wandered near the village was because they had run out off food that morning anyway. So, she figured that the sooner they got Kim's new crusade out of the way, the sooner they would be able to bum some food off of the villagers.

Kim shrugged and she did not argue that one because she did want to stop the lord. She thought it was great that she did not have to talk Shego into either. She knew that Shego had just as much a problem with what was going on as she did, even though the green-skinned woman was trying to play indifferent.

She and Shego started walking toward the castle. The pregnant woman watched them leave in sheer disbelief. She could not believe that they were just going to walk into the belly of the beast, as it were. But then again, she could not believe that they had easily defeated five watchers. They were strange girls, she thought. And as they walked away, she felt the idea that they were strange was confirmed because Kim was still wearing her fox mask on backwards.

"Do you always help people that need it?" Shego asked Kim curiously.

"I try," Kim answered with a small smile and in a light tone. She was obviously proud of what she did, even though she could kind of tell that it got on Shego's nerves. "Why do you act like it's so irksome? I mean, you helped."

"Only because I was there and you would've gotten your head taken off if I didn't," the raven-haired warrior stated.

"If that's what you want to tell yourself," the younger woman replied with a shrug and another smile.

Shego snorted. She was not out to be helpful and she had only acted because Kim had. She might not have kept walking when the pregnant woman was going to get slain, but she definitely would not have decided to go to the lord and have words with him because she would not have taken the time out of her life to ask the village's history anyway. It would have taken something like one of those watchers attempting to force her to work and then she might have gotten so pissed about that that she could have gone to thump up the daimyo and teach him a lesson in hospitality.

"You know, I wouldn't think less of you if you admitted to being okay with helping," Kim informed her companion.

"Like I give a damn what you think," Shego remarked, smiling a bit herself now to show that she was teasing.

Kim laughed a little bit. She wished that Shego would be a bit more open about her feelings, especially since she would not think less of the pale woman. She figured that she would only hold Shego in higher esteem if the older warrior would only admit to not being as bad as she acted. Shego had no intention of doing such a thing, though; she had an image to maintain, after all.

They continued on their stroll and came to the castle as the sun began to set. They were met by the giant monkey guards, ten of them to be precise. The guards were in full armor just like the watchers in the fields. Shego went off to the right while Kim went to the left and they both took on five of the monkeys. During the fighting that broke out, the ladies learned that the huge primates were not carrying swords just to look more genuine. The monkeys actually knew how to use their katanas.

"Oh, give me a break," Shego groaned as she drew her sword to block the weapon of a watcher.

"Who would've thought that monkeys could be so smart?" Kim wondered aloud as she countered the move of one guard and cut his arm through his armor. The monkey howled loudly in pain and backed away from the redhead for a few seconds to think about what he had just done.

"This is just wrong on so many levels," the pale woman commented as she took a forceful swing against the primates fighting her. Three of the watchers against her fell back, hollering in agony.

Kim agreed with that as she turned her attention to the other monkeys looking to battle her. She took her weapon in both hands as tightly as possible and rushed into the beasts against her. The monkeys cried out in a terrible scream before they dropped to the ground. She sheathed her sword as soon as they hit the dirt, not bothering to look at them as they did so.

"You're just a showoff," Shego commented. Kim smiled, as if it was the truth, but she did not want to admit it. "Well, can't let a youngster show me up," the pale woman remarked truthfully. She definitely could not let her younger lover show her up.

Shego sheathed her sword and ignited her hands. She went at her other two opponents and took them down in one move. She then powered down her hands and looked at the redhead with a smirk on her face.

"If you want to make this a competition, don't think I'll back down," Kim stated with confidence in her voice.

"Oh no?" Shego asked in a rather intrigued tone. It was promising to find out that her little kitsune was up to compete.

"I won't," the olive-eyed female stated.

"Fine, you want to make a game out of it? Whoever defeats the most watchers before we get to the lord, gets to fight this asshole," Shego said.

"Fine."

"No, there's more," Shego continued on.

"More?" Kim echoed in a puzzled tone. It seemed like a good gamble to her so far, so why should there be more.

Shego smirked. "Of course there's more, Princess. There's always more when it comes to me. This next part will have to be held off until we're alone, though. But, the winner gets to have her way with the loser."

Kim's eyebrows shot up in shock. Did those words mean what she thought they meant? She was not sure how she felt about that. She would not even know where to begin having her with Shego, but a voice in the back of her head was demanding that she take that offer and she could figure the rest out later on after she won.

"Fine," the redhead agreed.

"Good." Shego smirked like a demon that had caught sight of new prey and Kim wondered if she had just bitten off more than she could chew, but she convinced herself that she could handle a little competition.

The pair knew that they had to trust each other to tell the truth as they kept count of the beasts that they fought, but that did not even enter there minds. It was like a given and they did trust each other to tell the truth. Right now, all they were worrying about was how to get into the castle.

"Look at that tree," Kim said while pointing over to rather tall tree.

"That's kind of careless. Just when I thought this guy had some sense in his head, he just lets a big ass tree grow next to his castle wall," Shego commented in disbelief.

"Let's just be thankful that he's not as smart as you thought," the samurai said as she walked over to the tree and leaped onto a branch. Her companion followed her.

"They never are, but they're always as stupid as I think they are. It's weird."

"I guess that's just the way life is. So, we're going to stay together in there, right?"

"What's the matter, scared of getting lost?" the pale woman teased, even though she knew that it was best for them to stick together just in case they did get lost.

Kim rolled her eyes as they continued climbing the tree. They had to jump several feet into the air after they got to the top of the tree to reach the wall protecting the castle, but they did so with great ease. They landed on top of the wall to get a look around the inside part of the castle. They got as good an idea as they were going to get from the wall view, but it certainly did not mean that they might not get lost in the castle. With luck, they had the element of surprise on their side and would have it through out the assault.

They hopped down into the castle and started their game as they caught the attention of guards. Kim pulled her sword while Shego ignited her hands. They went at the huge monkeys as if they did not have a care in the world.

"Four," Kim said as they finished with the guards and moved on.

"Five," Shego replied with a smile.

"That was only the beginning. We still have a long way to go," the redhead stated.

The pale woman continued to smile. She had no plans to lose to Kim ever again, even if it was only a game. Whenever she was with someone, she was used to being the protector and she did not really know how to be anything else. She was not sure if she wanted to be anything else. She wanted to protect Kim and to do that, she had to prove that she was stronger than Kim, which meant that she could not lose to the redhead anymore.

They pressed on through the castle, meeting with plenty of guards and they all seemed to be those giant monkeys. There was not a human samurai in the place judging from their encounters. They wondered how that worked when the lord had to go to Edo with his whole household. Did they take the primates with them into Edo? Did the Shogun really allow that if he did? Why would anyone what spend his time around such smelly creatures anyway?

"Twenty-seven," Kim called out as she dropped a couple more guards.

"Thirty-two," Shego practically bragged.

"Damn it," Kim silently cursed.

They turned their attention back to the watchers, which were still coming. They were then surprised as some smaller fighters joined in. The newcomers were no more than three feet tall and they were all wearing masks and dressed totally in black, but they had a distinct feature that the other guards lacked. The newcomers had tails.

"Oh, come on, more monkeys? This is just nasty," Shego complained as she punched one of the smaller monkeys out of the air; it had been jumping at her. The small ones had an odor just as bad as the big ones too. She hoped that the smell did not cling to things or she was just going to have burn her clothing the first chance that she got.

"Do these count too?" Kim asked curiously, referring to the smaller monkey guards.

"Sure why not? One dirty, stinky monkey is just as good as another," the pale woman replied.

The duo quickly found out that the smaller monkeys were trained in ninjitsu. They could not believe what was going on. It was beyond bizarre because they were used to bizarre, but monkeys using martial arts was pretty much it, especially since they were doing better work than the ladies had seen some humans do. They pressed on through the fighting, praying that they did not get some kind of disease from the primates as they dropped the furry creatures.

They had to backtrack a few times as they ran down dead-end corridors. They were narrowly escaped having boiled oils poured on them a few times. They were rather glad that the lord had not included arrow traps in the makeup of the castle. They made it to the inner workings of the palace, breathing a little hard and suffering some minor cuts, mostly from blades thankfully.

"What do you got?" Kim asked in breath.

"Um…sixty-two," Shego answered while pulling a shuriken out of her shoulder. The next small monkey she saw, she was going to kick the little fur-ball with all of her might just to get back at the one that actually caught her with a throwing star.

"Damn it. Sixty-one." Kim could not believe that she was losing. She had felt so sure that she could win the silly competition, but there was still time. She was just going to have to pull a come-from-behind, upset victory because not only did she want to win, but she would like to try that whole "having her way" with Shego thing.

Shego laughed a little bit. It felt good to be winning. She did not mind that Kim was keeping up with her. In fact, she liked that, but she still wanted to win, especially since it meant having her way with the little redhead the next time that they were alone. She did not have too much time to revel in the fact that she was winning, though because more monkeys, large and small, came from all directions now that they were in main chambers of the castle.

They continued on, searching rooms and fighting primates looking for lord of the castle. By the time that they stumbled on to him, they were sporting some more cuts and bruises. They made an entrance worth remembering thanks to Shego, who did not do it on purpose. A monkey had tried to ambush her from the ceiling as they came to the room and she grabbed it by the tail. She spun it around and flung it through the door, putting a monkey-shaped hole in the opening. They then just tore through the door instead of opening it.

The duo then turned their attention to the two occupants of the room. There was a man that was dressed in all black like the smaller monkeys that they had been fighting and a rather large woman, who was pouring tea. The man had his head down with his legs folded underneath him, not bothering to acknowledge his guests. The woman, who was dressed in an elegant-looking silk kimono, did grace them with a look, but did not seem too interested in them either.

"Friske-sama?" Kim asked the name just to be sure that it was him.

"Who wants to know?" the man replied, still not bothering to at least look in their direction.

"The fucking man in the moon," Shego answered sarcastically. "We want to know. The people that just beat up your whole very gross monkey armory," she stated.

"What? You beat up all of our cutesy little monkeys?" the woman asked in disbelief. They were certainly interesting now, the duo noted.

"I'll handle this, Amy-san," the man stated while holding up his hand to signal that she should stop.

"Not really. Okay, Princess, tally up," Shego said.

"Eighty-three," Kim answered.

Shego froze for a second and held a look of dread in her emerald eyes. She had tied with Kim. It was unacceptable in her opinion. How could she protect someone that was damn near her equal? She had wondered what made men think that they were worthy of her princess, but now, she dared to wonder what made her worthy of Kim. What could she offer Kim that made her worth keeping around?

"Shego?" Kim said when the green-skinned woman did not automatically counter her number.

"Eighty-four," Shego replied.

Kim went rigid. She had lost? But, she never lost. Well, at least she had lost fair and square and to Shego. She just hoped that Shego did not look down on her because of that. She had already been kidnapped in Shego's company and she thought that made her seem weak, so she did not want anything else to go awry for her.

"I guess he's all yours then," the olive-eyed samurai yielded the battle to Shego.

"Yeah, I guess he is," Shego replied, already feeling the sting of guilt for having lied to her companion. At least she could make up for it. She could show how powerful she was and Kim would want continue to want her around. She could prove herself worthy of her little kitsune.

"What do you want?" the lord asked as Shego stepped forward.

"We don't like what you're doing down in the village, so we figure we'd tell you to stop. Maybe if you scream loud enough when I'm kicking your ass, I'll even consider asking politely," the pale woman answered.

"You can't talk to my cuddly-wuddly hubby like that," Amy declared, offended for the lord it seemed.

"Cuddly-wuddly hubby?" Kim echoed. Shego would not even let the words leave her mouth, even though she was just as confused as Kim. Neither of them could believe that a grown woman had allowed those words to leave her mouth of her own freewill and was serious about them.

"It was an arranged marriage," the daimyo huffed in his own defense.

"I'll bet," Shego muttered. She did not see anyone marrying Amy voluntarily if she was using words like "cuddly-wuddly" and she was over the age of three. "Look, I've already learned more about you than I needed to know. Stand up and fight me, so we can all get back to our lives," the emerald-eyed warrior demanded.

"You're standing up for those worthless peasants?" the lord inquired as if he could not believe it. "The only thing those shiftless humans are good for are feeding my armies."

"I'm still getting way too much information from you. Stand up and fight, so I can the hell out of here," Shego said impatiently. She had another ill-gotten prize to collect on and she would also like to get a meal before the night was through.

"Those people aren't worthless, you know. And you don't have any right to treat them like your own personal slaves," Kim argued.

"They are my slaves," he stated and he finally climbed to his feet.

The duo's faces both twisted in disgust and horror as they saw the lord's hands and feet as he stood before them. The guy had monkey attachments on his limbs. The bizarre meter officially shattered as soon as they saw that.

"Let me guess, you're the monkey king," Shego commented.

"I will be," he declared.

"You know what, I don't even want to know anymore. You're using those people down there for your own demented monkey army and that's enough to piss me off," Shego declared as she got into her fighting stance. She really just wanted to hurry up and take the guy down before that gnawing sensation wrapping its way around her guts got to her and forced her to confess what she had done to make the pain go away right then and there. She doubted that a confession in the middle of a fight would be a good thing; hell, it might not even be appropriate, not that she cared about anything being appropriate.

"You're a fool to take on the great Monkey Fist," he informed her.

The lord ran at Shego before she could comment how his name was just terrible and she had to block his attack. He came at her with powerful hand moves, but grabbed her with his foot and flung her across the room. Shego was not sure if she was more mortified by the fact that she had just been thrown by a monkey foot or the fact that Kim had witnessed the act.

Before Shego could make a decision on what should embarrass her more, Monkey Fist was in her face again. He tried to come down on her with a double-fisted punch, but she put her arms up to block it. She forced him back and climbed to her feet. She put her hands back up into her fighting stance.

"So, you actually mean business," Monkey Fist commented. He was stunned by her skill, but not very impressed.

"I think I do. So, let's skip the conversation and get right to it," Shego replied and she went at him.

The pale woman came in with her usual claw moves, which Monkey Fist thought he could guard against by putting his forearms up. He learned quickly that he would need another strategy as she tore through his kimono sleeves. He backed away from her when he noticed his clothing was shredded and he wondered what kind of weapon she was using.

Monkey Fist inspected Shego's hands to see that she was not holding any kind of blade. Her hands were open and positioned like striking cat. How had she cut him then? He tried for a closer look at her hands and took note of her nails. They looked rather sharp, but how could regular nails got through his clothing with as much ease as blade would have? He was not sure, but he knew that he did not want to be in close quarter combat with her without a weapon of his own.

Monkey Fist pulled a sword that he had on his hip and went at Shego again. She swiftly dodged the blade and looked for openings to counter his onslaught. Instead of waiting, she created her own opening. She ignited her hands and cut through his sword. He looked on in horror.

"How about you surrender now?" Shego suggested in an arrogant tone.

"To hell with this," the monkey-man declared and he turned to run out of the room.

Kim actually stepped out of his way for him to leave and Shego chased after him. Amy cried out for her husband and stood up, showing that she planned to go after him and maybe even help him. Kim drew her katana and held it in front of Amy.

"You should stay and keep me company while our friends settle this matter," Kim commented with a sickeningly sweet smile, as if she was not threatening the woman.

"Monty-kun!" Amy hollered, hoping that her husband heard.

Monkey Fist could hear his wife, but he was not paying her any mind. He was more concerned with getting the drop on the she-demon that was chasing him. He reached into his shirt and pulled out some shuriken, which he let loose in the narrow hallway. Shego dodged them and kept coming.

When he saw that the shuriken were not helping, he went for another attack. He stopped, turned around, jumped onto the wall, and came at Shego with a kick. Shego hardly had time to react to the sudden assault. She backed up and he missed her, but now she was slightly off balance.

Monkey Fist went at her while he had the chance. He continued to kick at her. She almost fell back, but she stayed on her feet and caught his leg. She shoved him through the wall. As he was about to hit the floor, he threw some shuriken to keep Shego at bay. While she avoided those, he jumped up.

Shego went at him as he stood up. He pulled out a staff to fend her off. She dodged the weapon until he hit the wall with it by accident. She cut through it with ease and then kicked Monkey Fist in the chest. He coughed as the powerful blow landed, but that was only the beginning. She kept going with her kicks until he was up against the wall. He caught her leg, hoping that would end things. But, Shego just went in with punches.

Monkey Fist let go of Shego's leg and tried to catch her hands. She was not in the mood for the fight to go any further. She put her right hand to his neck while holding him with her left. He looked down and then remembered that she had talons on her hands and the power to produce fire. She could probably decapitate him if she felt like it, he thought; he was quite right. He dropped his hands.

"Good decision," she stated.

* * *

1: When Shego talks about them being on the road when every daimyo is not in Edo, she's talking about a tradition started in the Tokugawa era where daimyo would spend a year in Edo and then they would return to their lands for a year and go back and forth. It was a system to make sure that the daimyo did not have enough money or power to rise up against the shogun.

* * *

Next time: Shego feels guilty over lying to win the bet. And the pair goes into yet another town and find themselves in trouble; they eat a meal they can't afford.


	28. Eat and run

I don't own these characters.

A/N: I guess I should have warned you guys about this a little sooner, but there are 3 chapters to go after this one.

28: Eat and run

Kim was holding Amy at bay with her sword. She did not want the large woman to interfere with Shego's fight with Monkey Fist, who was Amy's husband. Amy looked rather anxious, which was something that Kim could understand. What was going on between their lovers? Who had won? They wished the two fighters had stayed in the same room with them in order for them to know what was going on.

The redheaded samurai saw enough of the battle when they in the room to figure that her lover was taking care of Monkey Fist. The lord seemed to practice the same style of martial arts as Ron and though he looked more precise than Ron, Kim was sure that she had seen Ron use the style much better. Hell, she had seen Yori use the style much better and Yori was not even a master at it like Ron was. She shook the thoughts away because she was thinking of her friends. She did not want to think about them because of where they were currently located.

"Hey, Princess, let's get out of here," Shego said as she walked by the room that she had left Kim was standing in.

"You got him?" Kim asked, even though she had no doubt that her green companion did have him.

"Yeah, I got him. You can get her and we can get out of here."

Kim nodded and she quickly scanned the room for something to use to bind Amy's arms. She tied the large woman up with some disregarded cloth; Amy did not put up any resistance, just pleading with them to not hurt her "Monty-kun." She then pulled Amy out of the room to catch up with her companion. She got to see that Shego had worked on Monkey Fist rather well and had him tied up tightly to make sure that he did not get away, even though it did not look like he would get far if he did make a run for it.

"What did you do to my Monty-wanty!" Amy cried when she caught sight of her battered husband.

"Something that I'll do to you too if you don't shut up," Shego replied in a rather serious tone.

"Meanie!" Amy hollered, as if that was supposed to hurt the pale woman's feelings.

Shego rolled her eyes. She just wanted to get them out of there. She did not want to deal with their madness and the guilt that was just starting to devour her insides. She could not believe that one lie had so quickly and easily chewed through her. All she wanted to do was prove herself and she had done that, but she was still feeling like her intestines were being shredded like chopped vegetables.

The duo walked the noble couple down to the village and turned them over to the oppressed villagers, who cheered the female duo on for their actions. The people were not too sure what they were going to do with their defeated lord, but they were happy that he was no longer reigning over them for the moment. They were not too sure about the monkey guards either since many of them were still around, but for the moment, everything was fine and that was what mattered.

There was a mild celebration thrown in the ladies' honor, which was fine by Shego. The pale woman drank to her heart's content, hoping that it would help ease the guilt that she was experiencing. Kim tried to keep an eye on her companion because she did not want Shego to get drunk again. The redhead also made sure to eat as much as was offered to her. It was a little tricky to keep an eye on Shego while stuffing her face with all sorts of great foods.

Kim and Shego were also provided with their own hut for the night as a further show of appreciation. They retired there when the festivities died down. They curled up together on a couple of tatami mats and Kim covered them both with a blanket, even though Shego was undoubtedly going to get overheated. Shego had explained to the redhead that she easily got hot a while back when trying to explain her powers to Kim more precisely.

"Hey, Princess," the pale woman whispered in a slur. Oh yeah, she was pleasantly drunk; well, it was pleasant in her opinion.

"Shego, just go to sleep. You're drunk again," Kim stated soundly, but somewhat softly. It seemed that she did not keep the best eye on her cohort, she silently scolded herself. Well, with luck, her lover would sleep it off, or so she hoped.

"I'm not drunk," the older warrior argued. She was just…enlightened.

"Yeah, you are. So, just go to sleep. We can talk in the morning."

"I don't wanna talk about it in the morning," Shego huffed in a low tone.

"It's all right. We'll talk about whatever you want in the morning. Just go to sleep," the redheaded samurai gently commanded her companion.

Shego tried to argue, but her mouth was not obeying too well. She fell asleep less than a minute after trying to debate with Kim and not being able to get out a decent word. The redhead rested her head against Shego's shoulder and fell asleep too.

When Kim woke up in the morning, she found that she was the only one wrapped in the blanket, which meant that sometime during the night, Shego had gotten too hot. The green-skinned woman was still sleeping, holding Kim close to her. The younger female sighed contently and just stayed cuddled up with her companion. She hoped that no one entered the hut to for any reason or they would have to explain exactly why they snuggled up together in a little more than a "friendly manner." Well, at least, for once they were not nude while sleeping in a room.

"Princess," Shego muttered, seemingly talking in her sleep. She turned her head, facing a wall in the dark. It was morning, but the sun had yet to make its presence known to the world. The outside was mostly quiet; it seemed that it was too early for farmers to even be awake. She did keep her eyes closed, though.

Kim thought that her lover was talking in her sleep, but answered anyway, just in case. "Hmm?"

"I'm sorry," the green-skinned woman whispered the apology. She was awake for the most part, as she had been for about two hours now. She had woken up and saw her trusting little kitsune lying so peacefully against her and all she could do was think about how she had lied to the younger fighter. It had been impossible for her to sleep after that.

"You're sorry?" Kim said in a bewildered tone. "What are you sorry for, tenshi?" she asked quietly. It seemed like Shego was still somewhat sleeping to her, so she did not want to talk too loudly.

"I lied to you, kitsune," Shego confessed. She knew what she was saying, even though she sounded half-asleep. She just could not take the guilt that was tearing at her insides. She felt so horrible about it, more horrible than she had ever felt from lying.

"You lied to me?" Kim's heart sank. She feared the worse. Had Shego lied about their time together? Did Shego really not like her and was just using her?

"I lied yesterday. I didn't have eighty-four. I only had eighty-three, like you," the pale female stated, now facing the blackened ceiling of their temporary living space.

Kim breathed a sigh of relief. Shego was talking about their little competition when they were battling the monkey guards in Monkey Fist's castle. Kim was now puzzled, though. Why would Shego lie about something so silly?

"Tenshi, why would you lie about that?" Kim inquired. She supposed that she felt a little better knowing that it had been a lie. She had not actually lost yesterday if that was the case. She was unaccustomed to losing and she did not like it much, even if it was to Shego.

"I hate to lose," the older woman answered as if that was the most logical thing to say.

"Well, so do I, but it was just a little game."

Shego shook her head and opened her eyes. She might as well brave looking at the teen, she told herself. She had gotten over the really hard part anyway, namely apologizing. She usually did not apologize for anything, even if she was wrong. It just was not something that she did.

She stared into Kim's olive eyes, which she could make out in the dark, and asked herself how could she lie to the adorable female? Because she wanted to be worthwhile to the young woman, she reminded herself. She wanted to continue to be wanted and desired. It seemed so pathetic, she told herself, but she did not care. Whenever Kim was involved, the usual things that bugged her just did not matter anymore.

"Princess, I want to be able to protect you," Shego said and that seemed to come out of the blue to her companion.

"I'm pretty sure you can if I can't do it for some reason," Kim pointed out, although she did not think that there would be a time that she could not protect herself.

Shego sighed and shook her head. "I want to be able to give you something that you don't have and what I usually offer is protection. You can protect yourself, though. I figured that if I could just prove to you that I was stronger than you, you would be able to understand that I could protect you," she explained.

Kim looked confused for a second and then she smiled softly. She reached up and caressed Shego's cheek before leaning in for a tender kiss. Shego was now the one that was bewildered.

"You do give me something and if you want to, you can still protect me. It's nice to have backup that I can trust. But, what you give me is more important than protection," the redhead informed Shego in a gentle tone.

"What's that?" the emerald-eyed female inquired.

"This feeling," Kim answered while placing her hand on her own chest. She was not sure what the feeling was, but she knew that it coursed through her whole body as if it was her blood and it seemed to fill her whole body out as if it was muscle. It made her feel like she could walk on clouds and she wanted it to remain there always. It was so wonderfully delightful and she could only thank Shego for it.

Shego understood what Kim was talking about. She was very aware of the feeling. She thought of it more as water flowing through her body along with vapor wafting through her. It felt like heaven was in her system. Did she give that feeling to Kim?

"Do I really make you feel that good?" Shego inquired.

"You make me feel…special," Kim answered. She did not know how else to put it. She just felt special while she was with the raven-haired female.

"You are special."

"See, things like that make me feel like we were placed here just for each other, to be together. So, you really don't have to do anything more than be yourself for me. If you want to take on the bad guy, all you have to do is say so. You don't have to lie or try to impress me," the redhead promised.

"I know," Shego replied. She knew that, but she still felt like she had to impress Kim. She wanted Kim to always desire her as she did, but she guessed that if she gave Kim the same feeling that the little fox gave her, then it was likely that Kim would never leave her.

Kim did not say anything else. She just leaned over and kissed Shego on the mouth. Shego accepted the kiss and returned it with just as much zeal. They would have continued on, but they heard movement outside and figured that the village was waking up. They decided to get up and get moving too, especially since birds were starting to come out. It was would seem that morning was upon them and it was time to move on.

The two hailed heroes were given food for the road when they announced that they were going to be on their way. They were slightly curious about what the villagers were going to do with Monkey Fist and his wife Amy. The villagers still did not seem too clear what they wanted to do with the greedy lord. Kim offered to contact some authorities to take the daimyo off their hands, even though she was not sure what she could say to get the authorities to arrest the daimyo.

"Leave this one to me. When we get to Edo, I'll have some people come back here for Monkey-boy," Shego stated.

"Ah, I knew you cared," Kim teased her companion.

"I don't. I just don't want that annoying monkey to get away after I went through the trouble to kick his ass," the pale woman argued.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kim said with a smirk.

"Shut up. Let's go." Shego playfully shoved her companion in the direction that they were going to walk in.

Kim grinned and she started walking off. Shego followed behind her for a moment and then went to her side. The redheaded warrior did turn around to wave farewell to the villagers for a few seconds before Shego yanked her to continue going. They moved on.

"You do know it's all right for you to admit that you don't mind helping," Kim commented with bright smile.

"I don't mind it, but I don't really like it. It's annoying," Shego replied, frowning just to counter her companion's cheerfulness.

"But, it makes you look so sexy," Kim teased her comrade. Well, it was meant as a taunt, but she was blushing so deeply that it made her words ring way too true.

"Just like that blush with you," the pale woman remarked while throwing her arm around Kim's waist. The redhead flushed even more. Shego laughed a bit and leaned down, nuzzling her face in Kim's neck.

"That tickles," the teen giggled. The fact that it tickled was the only thing keeping Kim from blushing an even deeper shade of crimson.

"So what?" Shego replied and then she playfully nibbled at the samurai's neck. The younger woman laughed a little bit again. Shego did not help as she reached up and caressed the other side of Kim's neck.

"Stop. You're acting like an akuma again. Do you want me to call you akuma-san?" Kim asked with a laugh. She was not sure if she wanted to get away from the super-powered woman or if she wanted to stay close to her companion.

"It's too late," the green-skinned woman answered, remaining where she was. She had a lot of fun with Kim.

The redhead continued giggling. She pulled away, but Shego just pulled her back. Kim struggled, but Shego held steadily. They went on their journey in that fashion, not thinking that they looked rather silly. It was not like anyone was going to see; or so they hoped anyway.

--(New day)

"Are you sure we don't have any more food?" Shego inquired as she and Kim hiked up a path on what they were guessing was a never-ending mountain. It seemed like the rocky hill went on forever. It did not help matters that the hill was steep and there was nothing to hold on to if one of them slipped down.

"Yes, we're out of food. Just like yesterday," Kim replied.

"How the hell have we not seen any animals at all?" the pale woman wondered out loud. They had been out of food for three days and they had not seen any wild animals to catch and eat. They passed a stream a day ago, but no fish were in the water. Since when did fish not live in water?

"Where's the top of this thing?" Kim wondered aloud. She was staring up the mound and it just seemed to still be going up. Where they climbing a mountain to the heavens?

They continued moving up the mountain and finally hit the top a couple of hours later. They then looked down; crap, they still had nothing but rocky path going all the way down. They had been hoping for a town or a village. They wanted something with some food. Hell, even a forest would have done if it meant wildlife. But, no, all they had was barren mountainside to accompany them down the path.

They pressed on, down the path and through the dark of night. By the morning, they were both silently praying for anything that was populated by people who had food. They were starting to think that they needed to get back on the main highway, even if it meant that they were going to have to deal with inspection posts. Forget the fact that Kim did not do well with the inspectors and Shego would have had to look for a way around the post. They just would have access to restaurants if they were on the main highway, which would be a big plus at the moment.

And then, they caught sight of a town in the distance. They looked at each other and smiled. They picked up their pace down the rocky path and made their way into the town, which looked like an average town, but they were not paying much attention to that. They went right into the first restaurant that they came across and began ordering pretty much everything that they could.

In their rush, the ladies failed to notice that they had caught the attention of a male trio that they ran by on their way to the restaurant. The trio could not believe their eyes and had to go make sure that they had seen right, so they followed the pair to the restaurant. They knew that they had to be quiet about things, but they did go to make sure that they had seen correctly. And there she was, stuffing her face with a beef bowl.

"Demond-senpai (1), can you believe how lucky we are?" the brunette of the trio commented. They were all large, muscular men of similar builds and dressed in the same outfits. They were wearing blue yukatas with wooden geta.

"We're not lucky yet. We have to make sure she's not here for something official and wait for her to be alone," the dark-skinned, bald one replied. He happened to be the leader of the group.

"Right," the other two concurred.

The trio watched the female pair for a moment longer and then they walked off. Kim and Shego continued to stuff their faces, piling empty dish on top of empty dish. They were too busy digging in to even notice that they had been being watched. They had their fill and then got the bill.

"Hmm…" Shego muttered while going into her pockets.

"Hmm…" Kim echoed while going into her pockets.

"I'm broke!" both ladies realized simultaneously while looking at each other. And then it seemed to hit them that they shared those facts a little too loudly. They turned to their waiter and laughed nervously.

"What do we do now?" Kim asked her companion. She was trying to whisper the question, but not seem too suspicious too. It was not working out well.

"I've got an idea," Shego replied with her usual confidence.

"One that doesn't involve us running out of here right now," the redhead stated with a deadpan expression.

Shego sighed. "Picky, picky, picky. We could've burned this geek. Fine, give me a second to think about this," she replied and then she glanced over at the waiter. "And stop looking at me like you're going to do something," she barked at him.

The waiter actually yelped because of her tone. He scurried away, returning to the back of the restaurant. As soon as Shego got an idea, the waiter returned with a large, blonde man, who was wielding a kitchen knife. He did not look too friendly either.

"Ned tells me you two are trying to skip out on the bill," the large man commented. He also did not sound too friendly.

"We'd never do a thing like that," Shego replied with a good-natured smile. "We have no idea where Ned-kun would get an idea like that," she said in sweet tone.

"Then pay up," the huge man ordered.

"We would love nothing more than to that…um, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Shego said.

"Lars," he answered.

"Right, Lars-san, we would love nothing more than to pay the bill," Shego said as she stood up.

She motioned for Kim to follow her lead, which the redhead did, even though she had no idea as to what was going on. Shego leaned over onto Lars, which made Kim frown a little bit. The samurai was not sure what was going on, but she now was certain that she did not like it.

"Unfortunately, Lars-sama, we don't have the money right now," Shego continued on, using the honorific "sama" to hopefully help the situation. He did not seem to like the admission that they did not have the money at that moment, or so his deep scowl implied. "But, we can easily get it and until we do, we'll leave you with some collateral," she finished.

Lars craned an eyebrow, curious as to what she meant by "collateral." Kim was interested too since her companion was leaning so close to the blonde man. The pale woman then smiled in a suggestive manner, which did not make Kim feel any more at ease with what was going on. And the next thing she knew, Shego was yanking her swords out of her obi and handing them to Lars.

"Hey!" Kim barked in protest about her weapons being liberated from their proper place at her hip.

"You keep these," Shego said to the blonde while handing over her own sword too. "And we'll be back in a couple of hours with the money and you can give us back the swords," she informed him.

Lars seemed confused by the exchange. He obviously had been thinking of something else and by the time he realized what happened, Shego was dragging an objecting Kim out of the restaurant. Lars hollered after them, but Shego did not stop. The blonde ran to the door, but the females were gone.

"Shego, how could you just give up my swords like that?" Kim demanded to know. She was still trying to pull away from the emerald-eyed warrior, hoping to get back to the eatery to take her weapons back.

"Calm down. We'll have them back in about an hour," Shego tried to assure her unruly lover.

"But, I can't let The Blade of a Hundred Sorrows out of my sight. Not to mention, my swords do contain my soul. You can't just let any random restaurant owner have the representation of my soul like that!" Kim objected.

"Calm down, Princess. We'll get them back in about an hour. Don't worry," Shego stated soundly. It was almost believable.

"What do you have in mind?" the younger warrior asked with just a little suspicion in her voice.

"I'll tell you in a moment," Shego replied as she looked around for a non-populated area. She did not miss the distrust in her lover's voice, but she had to admit, at least to herself, that Kim needed to be suspicious.

* * *

The male trio could not believe their luck. She had actually made things so easy for them, they all thought. A couple of years of trying and they were pretty sure that things would never get any easier than they were at the moment. They made their move while they had the chance. They stole Kim's swords from a resting place against the wall in the back of the restaurant that they had been left in.

"Demond-senpai, that was unbelievable," the brunette male commented, almost in a shaky tone. He was just totally incredulous that Kim would make things so simple and that she would let her swords out of her sight for more than five seconds. Something had to be wrong.

"Yeah, it was too easy, Demond-senpai," the redhead agreed with his teammate. He also sounded rather suspicious about the situations. They knew that girl did not let her swords out of her grip most of the time, so out of her care was just unheard of. It was almost as if it was a trap of some kind, not that she was one to setup traps. Something still seemed off.

"Of course it was easy because that troublesome fox demon wasn't there to get in our way," the bald leader pointed out.

The other two nodded to yield that point. Kim was not around to practically bite their heads off about her swords. Also Director-sama was not around to holler at them about "bothering" Kim; they worked under Director-sama as elite samurai, named Team Impossible. They had always had an interest in Kim's swords, especially the one that was encased in the white sheath.

The trio had always been curious about the sword in the ivory-colored scabbard and why Kim never allowed anyone to touch it. They had heard tales about when Kim's grandmother used to carry the katana and how she never used it either. They had been told by older samurai and family members that the sword had magical properties, but no one was ever too sure about what the magic was about.

It was assumed that the sword somehow gave its possessor god-like strength. It was a good way to explain why Kim was so good, even though she was a short, skinny girl. It was said that her grandmother had the same build when she was younger, yet she also had incredible power. Supposedly, any Possible that held the sword had extraordinary strength and ability. It was said to be because of the sword and now they had it. They had all of that power.

"Here, Crash-san, you can have this one for right now," Demond Dash, the leader of the trio, said while handing over the katana that was in the red scabbard. He had no interest in that sword, believing his own long sword was vastly superior to any normal blade.

"Arigato, senpai," Crashton Crash replied. He could use a good sword to ruin with his extreme training where he cut through solid stone and some metals. He went through a lot of weapons and did like it when he got ones for free to totally ruin.

"Do you want the wakazashi, Burn-san?" the bald warrior asked his redheaded subordinate.

"Sure, why not?" Berman Burn replied, taking the short sword. He figured that he could practice with the wakazashi because, like his teammate Crash, Burn went through plenty of weapons too in his training. There was also the chance that there might be something special about the short sword, like the sword in the white casing. Maybe all of that little fox's weapons had magical properties.

They all inspected their new weapons. First, they looked at the scabbards. The white saya was decorated with small dragon flies down the length of it, which Dash thought was odd for some reason. There was some writing going down the length of the underside, but it was too small for him to read; it was a sealing spell that had been placed on there long ago with a hope that it would control the problems with the sword. The Possible family crest was close to the bottom and could be found on both sides of the case.

The scarlet sheathes were not too highly ornate. There was a strange blue symbol at the top that they thought looked suspiciously like the silhouettes of foxes and from the tails there were some thin blue veins that ran down the length of the sheathes, creating leaf designs when the lines intersected. On the bottom of those cases was also the Possible family crest. They then unsheathed the blades.

"Whoa, this is nice work," Crash commented in an amazed tone as he looked at the weapon. He did not expect to see such a fine blade carried by the redheaded samurai. It was a better blade than his own, which was why he had not expected.

"Seriously, way better than my short sword," Burn agreed, sounding equally awed by his stolen weapon. "Hell, I'm keeping this."

"Yeah," Crash concurred. He would rather use Kim's katana in battle rather than break it now that he saw what it looked like. He had never seen such masterful work on a sword. Who would give such a beautiful weapon to a scrawny kid like Kim?

Their leader unsheathed the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows and stared at it as if he was mesmerized by the sword. There seemed to be movement in the metal. It was the strangest thing, as if clouds roamed the sword. He could not turn away from it. His two teammates failed to notice his fascination with the cursed weapon because they were too busy admiring their own new swords.

* * *

"Okay, kitsune," Shego said as they turned into an empty alleyway that had a dead-end, which meant that no one could take them by surprise. The pale woman stood in front of her companion not only to block the view of anyone that walked by, but to also make sure that Kim did not run. She had no doubt that her little princess might take off once she started going through the list of things that the redhead needed to give her for the plan to swing into motion.

"Okay, what?" Kim asked curiously.

"Give me your mask, your zori, and your hakama," Shego replied in a normal tone and her companion was almost certain that she had not heard right.

"My what?!" Kim inquired in disbelief.

"Your mask, your zori, and your hakama," Shego repeated, in the same tone no less.

"What for?" the redhead asked while putting her hands onto her pants to make sure that those stayed in place.

"Look, do you want your swords back?" the pale woman countered.

"I do," Kim answered, emphasizing that point with a nod of her head.

"Then give me the mask, the zori, and the hakama."

"And how will that get my swords back?" Kim inquired with baffled look on her face and she was making sure not to let go of her obi in case Shego tried to just take her clothing from her.

"Trust me," Shego replied.

"And what about my clothes?"

"I'm going to give them back, of course. We just need to show you off a little bit and make you look less crazy, which is why I want the mask," the super-powered warrior explained.

"And my zori?" Kim inquired. What was the point in taking her footwear?

"You'll look poor and less likely to cause trouble," Shego explained.

"Why?" the younger female begged to know. She just did not understand where her pale companion was going with everything.

"The less you know about it right now, the better. So, just give me the mask, zori, and hakama."

Kim turned her mouth up to show her dislike of what was happening, but she did not have much else in the way of choices. She needed her swords back, especially the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows. She was not sure how long it would take that sword to possess someone close by, but she had no desire to find out. She had promised to keep the sword safe and she always kept her word.

Kim sighed as she pulled off her fox mask, which she had been wearing backwards as that was now her style. She handed that to her lover. She then leaned down and pulled off her zori. She handed both sandals to Shego. She then hesitated on untying her obi to remove her hakama.

"Come on," Shego urged the teen.

"I don't like this," Kim stated. The instructions for the plan that she was not being told about were just bizarre and they bothered her, but she really did need her swords back.

"No, really? I hadn't noticed," Shego said sarcastically. "Look, Princess, I don't like it either. You think I want people looking at you? I don't, but you want your swords back and to do that, we have to pay the check."

"Fine," Kim sighed and she slowly untied her obi. She did not know what the plan was, she knew that she did not like what she had to do for it, but it was the only plan that they had. They needed to do something as soon as possible and since Shego was the only one with an idea so far, she figured that she was going to go along with it. Besides, Shego would not steer her in harm's way or something like that…right?

Shego sighed too and uncomfortably averted her eyes. She felt somewhat ashamed of her plan, but she knew that nothing would go wrong. Her girl was powerful and would not allow anything to happen to herself. It would all be fine.

"What now?" Kim asked as she tied her obi back around herself to secure her kimono closed. She carefully folded her hakama and handed them to Shego.

"Follow me," Shego replied as she put her hat on over her head and forced herself not look at Kim's lovely legs.

The olive-eyed samurai was getting rather curious of everything now that Shego donned her hat, which let Kim know that Shego was planning to imitate a man again. Shego took off like a shot with her companion trailing her with ease. They took to the rooftops for a while and then came down into the street. As they landed Kim balked at what she saw, gathering easily where they were.

"Shego, really what is the plan here?" Kim inquired, now slightly nervous and bordering on outraged because she noticed several buildings were women being advertised in the front windows. They were in the red-light district of the town.

"Just make sure you get away after I turn you loose. If I have to come back here for you, a lot of people aren't going to like it and you're going to be mad at me," the pale woman replied.

"What?" Kim was confused and it showed on her face. She was also worried and that was just as clear as her bemusement.

The redhead followed behind Shego as they entered one of the places with ladies on display in the window. Kim seemed rather unnerved and meek, which was something that Shego wanted. They were greeted by three men as soon as they entered the building.

"What business do you have here, ronin?" one of the men inquired.

"Could you get the owner? I want to make a sale," Shego answered and Kim's eyes were wide as plates from her shock.

"This one behind you then?" he asked, leering at Kim.

"Indeed," Shego answered in a clipped tone. She did not like the way that he was eyeing her kitsune, but she knew that she had to put up with it for the moment.

Kim was so flabbergasted that she could not even speak. She was not beyond outraged. Shego was selling her? To a brothel?! What the hell kind of plan was that!

* * *

1: -senpai: senior.

* * *

Next time: so…Shego sells Kim to a brothel…wonder how that works out.


	29. Possession

I don't own these characters.

29: Possession

"Senpai, are you all right?" Burn asked Dash.

The bald leader of the elite samurai group known as Team Impossible was stuck staring into the naked blade of the sword that he had stolen. It was the unused weapon of Possible Kim. They had stolen all of Kim's swords from a dusty corner in a restaurant that they had been "abandoned" in. He had taken possession of the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows because of all of the stories about it granting the owner special, god-like powers and he wanted those powers, like most people did when heard rumors about Kim's idle sword.

"Yeah, senpai, you okay?" Crash jumped in because their leader had not turned away from the sword since he unsheathed it almost five minutes again.

"I'm fine," Dash finally answered while shaking his head and turning away from the sword. He could have sworn that he was seeing men in the blade and they were beckoning him for something. It was odd, he thought.

"All right. Could I see that sword?" Crash requested. He wondered if the unused sword was as well a quality as the one that he held in his hand. He now had possession of Kim's personal katana. Just from looking at it and holding it, he knew that her personal weapon was crafted by one of the best, if not the best, swordsmith in all the land.

"Uh…no," Dash answered in almost an unsure tone, like he wanted to say something else, but he had to say no instead. "No one can see this sword," he stated soundly.

"You sound like the brat herself," Crash commented, thinking that the leader was joking.

"Yeah, he does," Burn agreed with a laugh.

"Okay, well, let me see it, Demond-senpai," the brunette man requested again while putting his hand out.

"It's not worth it," Dash answered as he sheathed the katana and placed it with his own weapons. His two teammates were confused by the response and his actions, but they decided not to press the issue. Dash himself was not totally sure why he had said or done those things. Usually, he would not mind showing his teammates his things, especially if he was standing right there and knew that he would get the item back. With Kim's sword, things were different, though.

Dash did not want the sword out of his possession now that he had it. He just would not feel right without it now. He was almost certain that he would sooner give up his right arm than allow anyone else to show much as touch his new weapon. It was his now and his alone.

* * *

Kim was still in complete and utter shock. Shego had ordered her to strip half naked without telling her why, led her into the town's red light district, and was now making a deal on a price to sell her to a brothel owner. It was supposedly apart of some grand scheme to get them money to pay their check at a restaurant in order to get her swords back. Fair to say, Kim was not enjoying the plan so far, especially since the brothel owner continuously eyed her with a lecherous gleam in his eyes.

Shego was not too pleased with the way the dirty old man kept looking at her princess, but it was a necessary offense to put up with. She was driving a hard bargain with him because she could see that he was anxious to have her little kitsune, but the man was a cheapskate. Eventually, he did agree with her and Kim was thus sold into his den of prostitution. Shego then turned to the newest addition of the house.

"Behave for the nice man," Shego said in a normal tone for all to hear.

Kim frowned and was ready to seriously just attack Shego and everyone else in the place. The pale woman had not really just sold her, right, Kim asked herself. Well, from the money in her hand, Kim was going to have to go with "yes." Her companion had just sold her to pay off their restaurant bill. She could not believe her lover would do such a thing to her.

The samurai looked into Shego's eyes with a mix of sorrow and rage. The look seemed to scream "I trusted you and you do this to me!" The older woman tried to ignore the fact that the expression was pretty much cutting her in half. She was a bit offended that Kim thought that was the end of the plan, but then again, she could understand the redhead being insulted considering what seemed to be going on. The green-skinned woman thought that she needed clarify the plan just a little more before she ended up losing her kitsune.

Shego went next to Kim, leaning in very close to the redhead, and whispered, "I'll be waiting for you by the restaurant. Try not to kill anyone when you get out of here."

Kim was speechless as Shego left her. The redhead then turned her attention to the man that she had just been sold to and three other men in his employ. Her stomach churned as she saw the greedy and licentious looks in their eyes. They were about to learn that they had just purchased faulty merchandise.

* * *

Shego slowly strolled back to the restaurant that she and Kim owed money to. She was not feeling pleased about what she had done, even though it had just made her a great deal of money and it would be a good scheme to run, if only she did not know that Kim would be totally against it. Kim probably felt betrayed and violated by the predicament that she had left the teen in; she could tell that just from the look in those olive eyes when Kim had been glaring daggers at her. But, it was fast money.

Still the thought of what she had done weighed on her worse than having a mountain on her shoulders. She cared deeply about Kim and yet, she had just sold her to such a place. She was confident that Kim would get away, but it still made her feel dirty to have done such a thing. It did not help matters that she had also given up Kim's precious swords as collateral for their check at the restaurant. She was swinging and missing a lot that day.

She hoped that Kim could forgive her for doing such things. She was only looking to be practical. Surely there was no crime in that, but in her heart and gut, it felt as if she had committed the worst of evils. Her mind wished to know how she could just sell her girl like that.

"It's not like I really sold her," Shego argued with herself.

Kim would get away from the brothel in a hurry, the pale woman assured herself, which was why she had sold Kim in the first place. The teen was able. Kim had defeated her, after all. So, she told herself that she should not worry that Kim would not get away because she was sure that the redhead would be back with her within minutes. What she needed to worry about was her lover's wrath, she reminded herself. The look in Kim's eyes was enough for her to know that Kim would get away; the redhead was going to seek revenge more than likely. Hopefully, she could be reasoned with, Shego silently prayed.

Shego arrived at the restaurant after a couple of minutes, but she did not enter the establishment. She waited outside, figuring that she would go in when Kim returned to her. She did not need to wait long, which she knew would be the case. Her redheaded companion stormed over to her hardly two minutes after she arrived. The expression in her olive eyes a keen mixture of deep offense and anger.

Kim was beyond insulted that Shego would take her and sell her to a brothel. She was damned samurai first of all! A member of the highly esteemed Possible clan! And Shego had the nerve to sell her into some sleazy den of prostitution as a way to pay for a restaurant bill. It was unacceptable! It was if Shego thought that she had no pride or honor to speak of to do such a thing to her. How could Shego even do such a thing to her? She thought that the green-skinned warrior cared about her and yet, she had been able to do such a thing.

"How could you do that!" Kim demanded to know before she was even in Shego's face.

"We needed the money," Shego pointed out, remaining calm with the hope that it would help get her lover to settle down too. The last thing that she wanted was to have Kim punch her right in the middle of a public street.

"So you sell me?" Kim shrieked. "Wait until I get my swords back. You're not going to have to keep your promise because I'm going cut you in half!" the redhead declared with a fire blazing in her eyes.

"Kitsune," Shego said with a nervous grin. She was not sure if her lover was being serious or if that was just the fury talking. She was not interested in finding out, though.

"Give me my damn clothes back," Kim ordered, which the pale woman did immediately. After all, there was no need to add to the aggravation of the situation by teasing the fuming samurai.

The redhead went to a nearby alley and put her hakama back on. She slipped her zori back on her feet. She even put her fox mask back on, wearing it backwards again. She then returned to Shego to have her a piece of her mind.

"What the hell was that about?" the redhead demanded to know.

"Princess," Shego started in a very gentle tone, hoping that it would get her out of trouble. Unfortunately, she did not get the chance to finish her statement.

"Oh, no, don't try to sweet talk me. Let's go get my damn swords, so we can get this over with!" Kim commanded and she stumped into the restaurant.

Shego gulped and followed behind the furious teen. It seemed like her lover had been serious when she that she was going to cut Shego in half. They went to the back of the restaurant for Lars, who was doing some cooking.

"You two again," Lars commented as he noticed the ladies. "I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to come back here."

"Here's your money," Shego said to the blonde and she handed him the payment for their bill. "Where's our swords?" she inquired.

"Ned," Lars called his nerdy waiter.

"Yes?" Ned replied from the front of the restaurant where he was attempting to wait tables.

"Come and get those swords!" the boss commanded.

"Yes, sir!"

Ned hustled from the front of the business to the back, not wanting to anger his boss by taking too long to perform the ordered task. He went to the corner that his boss had stored the ladies' weapons in. Ned then went to the female duo and handed over one sword. Kim and Shego looked rather baffled by his actions.

"Where are the other three?" Shego asked with a bit of an attitude. Her saving grace was that she was getting the swords back and yet three of them were missing. The three important ones at that.

"Other three? That's the only one that was there," Ned answered.

"What do you mean!" Kim screamed and she grabbed Ned by the front of his kimono. She started yanking him back and forth. "Where the hell are my swords?" she demanded to know.

"I don't know!" Ned answered with fear in his voice. "Could you get off of me?" he begged to know. If she kept shaking him, he was scared that he might pee on himself and he really did not need to do that in front of his boss, especially not in the kitchen.

"Princess, let him go!" Shego said and she pulled her companion off of the scrawny boy. She stepped in between the two of them, but Kim still tried to go through her to get to Ned, who was now the source and desired outlet of all of her rage because he had lost the swords in her opinion.

"Where the hell are my swords!" Kim demanded to know, attempting to leap over Shego to get back at the little waiter.

"Princess, calm the hell down!" Shego ordered, knowing that if her companion did not get a hold of herself at the very least Ned was likely to die. After Ned, it would probably be Lars, and then maybe herself since she had given the swords up in the first place.

"How can I calm down? They lost my swords! Damn it, those are my swords!" Kim hollered in serious, agonizing distress. Her most prized and treasured possessions were gone. She was responsible for those swords, especially the heirloom, which could be out doing damage to someone for all she knew. And then there were her own personal weapons, which did represent and house her soul.

"Calm down, calm down, calm down," Shego repeated in a low tone almost like a chant. She leaned in close to Kim and pressed her forehead against the distraught teen's head. She placed her hand on the back of Kim's head to hold the redhead in place and also to comfort the upset warrior. "We'll find the swords. We'll find them. I promise," she whispered. Damn right, she promised; after all, she was the one that gave them up in the first place. She now had a shot at redemption.

Kim had to take a few deep breaths and her heart began to steady its rhythm. She eyed the floor for a moment before staring directly at Shego, who she had only minutes ago been ready to cut in two, but now, she was glad for the support. She was glad for that sincere look in those emerald eyes that pledged to her that they would find those swords. There was no second option as far as Shego was concerned, which Kim could also see in her eyes, so that helped the redhead calm down.

"Where do we even start looking?" Kim pled to know. She needed those swords back and she needed them now, especially the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows. She did not even want to think of what might be happening if that legend was true.

"We'll start with asking four eyes and blondie if they saw anything suspicious," the pale woman pointed out and she turned her attention to Lars and Ned, sweeping around to face them with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "So, did you two see anything suspicious?" she inquired.

"We didn't see anything," Lars answered soundly. Like he would just let someone steal from him, even if he did not want the swords in the first place. It was the principle of the matter and he would not just allow someone to plunder anything that was his if he could help it.

"Of course," Shego sighed. It was just her luck that they did not have any clues at all.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Kim was obviously panicking. They did not have clues if those guys did not see anything, which meant that she might never get her weapons back. She would never be able to face her family again after losing the Blade of Hundred Sorrows; not only was it dangerous, but it was a family heirloom too. There was also the symbolic meaning behind the sword, which showed that the Possible clan would and could do anything to protect its people and land.

"Calm down. Come on. Those swords couldn't have gotten far. It hasn't even been an hour yet," Shego pointed out.

Kim nodded in agreement because she did not have any other choice in the matter. She needed to calm down and focus on the problem at hand rather than being totally alarmed by the entire situation. Shego pulled her out of the restaurant and they began to the hunt for Kim's swords. The redhead was not sure what to do and she began to hyperventilate from her panic after only a few seconds. Shego noticed immediately and put her arm around Kim.

"Don't worry, kitsune. I'll get your swords back or die trying," the pale woman declared while rubbing the smaller warrior's shoulder.

Kim could not even speak, which did not matter because she would not have known what to say if she could. She probably would have blamed Shego for what happened, but she could not even think about that. All she could think about was having her swords back. She needed her swords; they were treasures to her. Taking her swords, the thief might as well have snatched her arms and legs too in her opinion because the weapons were just as important to her as her limbs.

Shego did plan to break her back if necessary to get those swords back for her companion. She did feel very responsible for what was happening to Kim and she did not like that Kim freaking out was all her fault. She was experiencing too much guilt lately, she thought as she dashed around attempting to locate the physical manifestation of Kim's soul. She was going to find those swords, Shego told herself over and over because she did not want to even think there was a chance that something else might happen.

* * *

"Senpai, are you all right?" Crash inquired as Dash turned around suddenly.

They had been planning to make their way back home since they had been expected in a couple of days ago actually, but Dash seemed to be stalling in getting out of town now. He kept turning around as if he was looking for something, but never spotted what he was looking for; it was like he was a bird on high alert for a predator or prey. He also kept his hand resting on the hilt of his stolen weapon, the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows, which his two partners thought was weird. He was worse with that katana than Possible was, the two thought because of the way that he kept his hand on it. She at least did not need to touch it all the time like their leader seemed to need to do.

"I'm fine. Stop asking me that," Dash barked at his two teammates. They continuously asked if he was all right and it was getting on his nerves now since it had been going on for almost an hour. He was sick of hearing them talk for the most part.

"You don't look fine," Burn pointed out, which was why they kept asking him how he felt. It did not help that he continuously turned around sharply every couple of minutes when nothing or no one was around.

"What do you mean?" Dash countered in a close to angry tone.

"You're sweating," the redhead commented.

"So? It's hot," the bald man huffed.

"Not really," Crash objected. It was a fantastic day, not too hot or too cold. The sky was clear, but the sun was not really bothersome. There was no reason to be sweating.

Dash was sweating; it was dripping down his cheek. He was also feeling fidgety. He wanted to draw the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows, but he did not because it did not feel like the right time. He was not sure when the right time was for him to unsheathe the weapon, but he was certain that he would know when the time came. He felt like he needed to cut someone in half, though. He was not sure who that someone was just yet, but he could feel that the person was close. He could not wait for that person to show up, so he could get to work on that unlucky soul. Once his business was done with that person, he might turn around and take care of his teammates since they did not seem to know when to shut up.

"Come on, senpai. We need to get home before Director-sama has us commit seppuku (1)," Crash commented. He imagined that a lot of the time that woman would devour them whole if she could and they would just have to stand there while she did it or try to complain to the Shogun, who probably would side with her anyway.

"Right," Dash agreed and they continued on their way, trying to get out of the town and back on the road to get to Edo.

"We also need to get out of here before Possible realizes her swords are gone," Burn added, hoping that that would get their leader to stop fooling around and they could just be on their way.

"You think I'm afraid of that little girl?" Dash inquired in a rather angry tone. One might have thought Burn said something about his leader's mother from the irritation in his voice.

"I didn't say that, senpai," the redhead quickly defended himself, not looking to get into a battle with his leader.

"But, you implied it," the bald man growled like a mad dog. He had never felt so insulted in all his life that anyone would even come close to suggest that he was frightened of that little girl. He would tear her in half if she was there right now.

"I didn't mean it like that," he argued.

"I could destroy that kid," Dash proclaimed and he realized that he wanted to do just that. He looked around, hoping to spot her, but he was not so lucky. He then suddenly walked off, in the wrong direction. Apparently, he was going to find her and show his teammates just how scared he was of Kim.

"What the? Senpai, where are you going?" Crash called to the departing bald man, who did not answer.

"What's up with him?" Burn asked his partner with a confused expression on his face.

Crash shrugged. "Hell if I know. Let's follow him and try to figure out what's going on. We really need to get back to Edo or Director-sama is going to eat our heads at this rate."

Burn nodded in agreement with that; she was probably going to punish them for their lateness anyway, but they did not want to compound that. They took off after their leader and noticed that he seemed to be searching for something or someone, but they could not figure out what. They did not know anyone in the town, except for the girl that they had stolen weapons from, of course. They did not know why he would want to find Kim, though.

Dash was hunting for Kim like snake hunting for a rat. His head turned sharply every few seconds, searching for some sign of her. He practically slithered by people and around buildings, in hurry to locate his prey. He felt like she was close by; it was almost as if he could sense her, just like a viper following its tongue to its dinner. He just felt the urge to destroy her and it was building with every passing moment. And then he spotted her and his hatred boiled through his system it seemed. A crimson steam seemed to rise off him at that very moment.

"Mim-hime," Dash whispered to himself and he unsheathed the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows, which also seemed to be giving off a deep scarlet mist now. He then ran at Kim, who did not seem to be paying attention.

Kim was still depressed over the loss of her weapons. She quietly despaired while Shego had gone into a shop to see if someone had gone in there and sold the swords or maybe tried to sell the swords. And then suddenly, Kim was on full alert and dodging an attack. She jumped back while a sword came down. She caught sight of her enemy before her feet hit the ground.

"Demond-san?" Kim said in disbelief and puzzlement. She knew that Team Impossible were no fans of hers, but they never had attacked her before. What was going on? And then she noticed the sword that he was wielding. "The Blade of a Hundred Sorrows? What are you doing with that?" she demanded to know.

"Mim-hime," Dash growled as he turned his attention back to Kim and came at her with another powerful sword attack. There was eternal hatred in his movements.

"Oh, crap, he's possessed," Kim realized as she moved out of the way of his attack again. She had never seen the possession of the sword before, but the fact that he called her Mim was a dead giveaway, mostly because she had been told that when the sword possessed someone that the souls of the men inside only wanted revenge on Mim. The bad thing was that the souls seemed to perceive any Possible protecting the blade as Mim.

There was also the fact that Dash seemed to be sporting a new red miasma surrounding him. The cursed blade held the same visible aura to it. The color in Dash's eyes had faded almost completely, but there was still an intense look of pure, unshakable hatred in his eyes that was never present before. His face was tighter than usual from tension that was coming from the souls taking control over his body.

The redhead instinctively went for her sword, hoping to fend off Dash. She clearly forgot that she was sans weapons. She silently cursed as she moved out of the way of the blade again and avoided losing her head to her own sword. She started scanning the area, looking for something that could be a weapon. She did not see anything; hell, there were not even people on the street, as they all made hasty retreats when Dash charged in swinging the sword.

"Why the hell didn't I bring my backup weapons?" Kim asked herself. She usually carried at least three backup weapons, but she left those with her horse, which she left with Ron and Yori. If anything, her weapons were at home now. Could the day get any worse, really?

The redhead just made sure to stay out of the way of the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows. Dash growled furiously every time that he missed the slender girl, as if he was an angry dragon, breathing out a crimson mist from his nose to go along with that. He did keep up with her better than most, but she was still avoiding him. He did not see the merit in keeping up with her unless he was cutting her head off, so it was moot to him.

"What the hell?" Shego muttered as she exited the store to see her girl nearly getting cut to bits by a man covered in a red fog that he was generating from what she could tell. It was always something, she sighed to herself.

"Shego, give me your sword!" Kim called urgently. She figured with a sword, she could quickly disarm Dash and with luck, it would get the demon souls out of him.

"No problem," Shego answered and she tossed the redhead her blade.

The teen grabbed the sword and had to duck Dash taking mighty horizontal slash at her. She unsheathed the ninjato (2) and quickly put the weapon out to block the next assault that she knew was coming from Dash. She put the ninjato up just in time and as the blades collided then a couple of sparks were actually created as if the metals were hot as they rubbed against each other.

"Mim-hime," Dash snarled in a deep voice that Kim knew was not his usual tone, looking down at her while their swords clashed. The scarlet aura helped hide his face, covering his visage in shadow, making him look very much like an oni.

"Demond-san, you're being taken over by demons," Kim tried to tell him in a rational tone, thinking it might get through to him. She was not sure if that would work since no one ever told her what she should do if someone was possessed by the sword, other than get the weapon out of the person's custody.

"Mim-hime," he growled, blowing out more red smoke from his nose and mouth now as he spoke.

Kim sucked her teeth since it was obvious now that there was no getting through to him, especially since he kept referring to her as "Mim." She was just going to have to get that accursed sword out of his hands. She had no problem with that, especially since it was apparent that he was the one that stole her sword. She guessed that his two shadows held her personal weapons.

Shego just watched the swordfight as it took place. Being on the outside looking in now, Shego could see how the girl offered her competition. The redhead was agile and flexible and seemed to be able to get out of the way of anything. And then to go along with her sword attacks, Kim had all sorts of martial arts moves. Dash seemed to have his hands full trying to take her on, even though it was clear that he was a master swordsman. The pale woman did wonder what his malfunction was with attacking her kitsune, though.

Shego would have continued watching the blades cling against each other, sparking each time, but she something else caught her eye. She turned to her left and caught sight of Crash and Burn, who were also watching the battle. Shego did not know the pair, of course, but she did know those swords that they were carrying near their own. So, she made her way over to them, standing in front of them and sort of blocking the intriguing battle going on between their leader and Kim, which still included more and more sparks as their swords collided.

"Hey, guys," Shego said to the pair in a very casual manner.

"Hey," they replied in puzzled tones since they did not know her and she was in the way of an important fight as far as they were concerned.

"Those are some nice swords that you have there," the green-skinned woman commented while motioning to weapons on their belts that did not seem to belong.

"Oh, yeah," Burn said.

"Funny, I have a friend that has swords that look exactly like those," Shego stated and they seemed to have gotten the hint.

Crash and Burn pulled their weapons, their personally owned katanas. Shego leaped back to avoid getting sliced at the neck and waist. She then ignited her hands and went at the thieves that had gotten her into such trouble with her lover. She was angry with them for what happened with Kim. How depressed and stressed she was over the loss of her swords and of course how angry she had gotten with Shego. She was going to make them pay for it all.

Shego's first move against Crash and Burn was to cut right through their swords with plasma-charged claws, mostly due to the fury that she was feeling knowing that they were the ones that caused her and Kim so much trouble. They did not notice immediately, which cost them because they tried to counterattack her with the swords. She did not have to move and came in with punches for them, catching them in the chest. They fell onto their backs while wondering how in the hell a woman could be so powerful.

"Give me this, bitch," Shego said to Crash and she ripped Kim's katana from his side. She used the sheathed weapon to hit him in the stomach, which caused him to cough and he held his stomach. She turned her attention to Burn. "You want some of the same, bitch?" she inquired, still rather upset.

"Who are you calling a bitch, bitch?" Burn countered and he attempted to kick her while he on his back.

Shego laughed a bit and caught his leg. He was about to regret throwing his leg out because as soon as she had that limb in her clutches, she was about to show her evil side. She proceeded to stomp him in the crotch. He cried out in sheer agony and passed out from the pain.

"I hope you already had children, bitch." Shego chuckled as she leaned down and took her girl's short sword from his side. She felt a bit better about herself having killed Burn's nuts.

Shego was about to turn her attention back to the swordfight, but Crash decided to stand up. He took a few swings at Shego with his fists, which she blocked; he was weak from her first assault, so he was easy to defend against. He then kicked at her side, which landed. She grunted, but she held his leg to her side and then she smashed him across the face with the sheathed katana that she was holding. Crash's face snapped to the side and he fell over, halfway anyway since Shego was still holding his leg. She dropped him unceremoniously in the dirt and turned her attention to the fight.

Kim seemed to be holding her own, so Shego figured that she would just hold onto Kim's weapons since the young samurai did not seem to need them. The redhead continued to clash weapons with Dash and they tried to force each other back. Shego was waiting for the sparks from the swords to ignite the crimson aura that Dash was bathed in.

"Mim-hime!" Dash snarled in a blind rage. There were veins bulging on the side of his head as he tried to force Kim to her knees with the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows against the sword she was wielding.

"The name's Kim," she informed him and she kicked him hard in the side. He fell back, surprised by the hit and the strength of it.

"Mim!" the bald man snorted as if he was a vengeful bull. The veins in his head just bulged more as his face grew dark from shadows and the scarlet smoke slowly covering his whole being.

Kim did not even try to reason with him. She ran at him while she had the chance, but she did not get to attack because he beat her to it. She put the ninjato out to block the katana and then she quickly stepped to the side. She went to strike him with her sword, but he blocked. They continued on in that manner for a few more steps until Kim changed strategies.

The redhead slid behind Dash and proceeded to hit him in the back with as many punches as she could. He turned around and swiped at her with The Blade. She jumped back and moved to the side, hoping to come in with a lightning fast strike of her own. He blocked that attack, but she lashed out with several kicks. He forced her back with their swords to get the kicks to stop. Kim just ran in for more.

The slender samurai decided that it was best to go at Dash with punches and kicks, only using sword attacks as a distraction. She tired him out in that manner and then disarmed him with a rapid, surprising strike from her sword, sending the Blade of a Hundred Sorrows flying several feet away and landing harmlessly in the dust on its side. Dash seemed incredulous to what just happened.

"Mim…" he hissed while breathing hard, but he did not run at her.

Kim waited a moment to see what Dash was going to do. He bent down on one knee and then fell forward on his face. She was not sure if he passed out from the fighting or because the possession was over. She went to check on him and found that he was unconscious; the crimson aura around him quickly began dissolving. She took her scabbard for her sword out of his belt and went to retrieve her family's sword. She put the cursed katana back where it could do no harm.

"Well, that's one down," Kim muttered.

"Two to go, kitsune," Shego commented as she came over, holding the two swords out as a peace offering.

"My swords," Kim gasped and she grabbed them. She quickly put the weapons back on her hip and she sighed in relief. "Thank you!" she hollered and she threw herself in Shego's arms. It would seem that it slipped her mind that it was sort of Shego's fault that her precious swords had gone missing. She was just overjoyed to have her treasures and the family heirloom back.

"Come on, let's get going," Shego said while patting her companion on her lower back.

"Yeah," Kim agreed and they continued on their journey, leaving the entire Team Impossible just laid out in the middle of the empty street.

"So, princess, how did you get away from the brothel anyway?" Shego asked curiously. She really did not want to remind Kim that she had done something as horrible as selling Kim, but she just had to know how her lover made it back to her.

"I beat them up the second they came to touch me and broke open the cage that they keep the women in. I thought that the women would like to be free, but not too many of them fled. I still figured that the owner would be concerned about fixing the cage before coming after me," Kim explained.

Shego nodded. She figured that everything happened something like that. It was what she had been banking on when she sold Kim, but she still did not feel right about what she had done.

"I'm sorry for that, princess," Shego apologized sincerely.

Kim glanced over at her companion. She wanted to still be mad at Shego for what happened, but she looked ahead of her and thought about how close they were to their destination. She easily let her anger go, as if it was a captured firefly. She stepped closer to Shego and took the pale woman's arm, placing it around her waist.

"It's all right, tenshi, especially since we got everything back," Kim replied. Shego smiled a bit.

* * *

1: Seppuku: ritual suicide.

2: ninjato: ninja sword.

* * *

Next time: they arrive at Edo.


	30. Back in chains

* * *

I don't own these characters.

30: Back in chains

The hill with a lone tree just outside of Edo was a magical place, as Shego had promised. The stars shone like precious stones, sprinkled through out the blackened sky. The moon, almost full, looked down on them in a somber manner. They were sitting underneath the tree, looking up at the sky as if it would act as their savior.

Shego had her arm around Kim, who was leaning into the pale woman. They were silent for the most part, just enjoying their closeness and the fact that it felt like their souls were touching. They communicated through petting and caressing while eyeing the sky, not the city.

They would see the city too soon in their opinions. They had gotten there too quickly, but then again, it could have taken forever and a day to make it back to Edo and they would have felt that it was too soon. They had not been having a grand dream before arriving, yet they were still getting a rude awakening.

No, Shego told herself. If they had been dreaming, they could do it for a little while longer. She leaned down and touched her lips to Kim's in a rather sweet manner. It was like having honey touch her mouth. Kim eagerly returned the kiss and it blossomed into something more.

They touched each other passionately, but gently, attempting to savor every moment that they were together on that hill. They explored every dent on each other with deep interest, hoping to commit the other body to memory, hoping to make sure that the other remembered and cherished their time together for all eternity. After all, it was possibly their last time together.

* * *

"Maybe we should get dressed," Shego suggested as the sun began to come up, intruding on them as it often did.

Kim was lying on top of the pale woman, who was lying on top of her own clothing because she was not interested in having dirt or grass blades stuck to her sweat-covered body. Kim's head was tucked under Shego's chin while Shego had her hand resting on Kim's back. The redhead answered the proposal by shaking her head in objection; she did not want to get dressed.

The olive-eyed samurai did not want to move. She wanted to stay where she was forever and all time. Even if she did die, she just wanted to be reincarnated back in the same place. She did not want to go into the city; she did not want to go home; she did not want to do anything that involved leaving Shego.

"Come on, kitsune. We have to get up and move sometime," Shego said in a soft voice, hoping that would encourage her lover to get up.

"No, I don't want to go. I don't want you to leave me," Kim protested vehemently. She was tired of pretending that everything was fine. She was tired of being strong. She just wanted what she wanted for once in her life, consequences be damned.

"We already agreed to this, princess," Shego pointed out, holding in a tired sigh. She did not want Kim to fall apart on her now, not when she was so close to doing something partially right.

"No! Stay with me! We can just keep walking, tenshi. We could go up north! We could go to the south! We could even go to the continent! We could do so much, tenshi, but we can't do anything if you're dead!" Kim stated fervently, sitting up a little too look Shego in the eye.

The green-skinned woman sighed as if she was exhausted and rubbed Kim's back a little. She had to force herself to look into those olive eyes, which were glazed over with water. Kim looked like she was experiencing the worst pain of her life, as if she was being made to walk through Hell on her own. Shego reached out with her free hand and caressed Kim's cheek. The water in those misty olive eyes began to fall.

"Please, Shego! We could go anywhere!" Kim began to sob uncontrollably. "I'll do anything you want. I'll play the shamisen every day and serve you as much sake as you can drink, just don't leave me alone! I don't want to be without you!" She bawled, turning her head to hide her obvious tears.

Shego was touched, but she did not show it. She doubted that she had ever had anyone cry because of her departure. She was not sure if she had anyone shred tears over her point blank. She just continued to pet Kim with a passive expression on her face. After a few tense seconds of Kim crying, Shego managed a fond smile.

"Princess, people have to take responsibility for their actions. Besides, I made you a promise and I have to keep my word," Shego replied.

"I don't want you to keep your word!" Kim wailed. "I just want you to stay with me!"

"I know, but I do have to keep my word, especially to you. I've done a lot of growing up while I've been with you, kitsune, so I have to do this. It's that simple," Shego stated while sitting up.

"How can it be that simple? Do you want to die? You don't want to be with me anymore?" the redhead begged to know through her heavy tears.

"I'd like nothing more than to be with you forever, princess. You're just asking the impossible of me right now. I can't run away with you and I don't want you to run away anyway. So, let's get dressed," the pale warrior said as she moved Kim off of her.

"I love you!" Kim declared loudly and unabashed. That was what the feeling was. That was what everything was and she wanted everything to be that way always.

"I know," Shego replied as if that news was nothing to her. It was like the younger warrior was just reporting on the weather.

The emerald-eyed woman did not say anything further. She stood up and began getting dressed. Kim could not believe her eyes; it was like Shego did not care about what she had just confessed. It was like she did not matter.

"Didn't you hear me?" Kim hollered in a fit of sorrow and rage.

"I heard you," Shego answered in a calm tone.

"So?" the redhead pressed. Surely she was going to get some kind of response for her declaration, she thought. It only made sense to her.

"You should get dressed," Shego said again.

"Shego."

The older female did not say anything and outwardly ignored the sounds of Kim's sobbing. The teen did begin to get dressed since Shego was doing the same. Kim did find it was difficult to stand up, so she did not even bother. She found it even harder to stop crying, but she did make the attempt. By the time they were both dressed, Kim was on her hands and knees, bawling like a newborn while Shego was standing a couple of feet away from her, looking down into the city.

"We should both go home, kitsune," Shego commented in a dispassionate tone.

"I don't want to," Kim answered in a mumble.

"Princess, I think it's fair to say that you've changed my life, very much for the better. I'm more thankful for you than I have ever been for anyone. I don't think I could ever explain what you make me feel and saying 'I love you' rings so hollow because of that. But, I do love you with everything I have and that's why I have to do this. I have to do the right thing. I have to keep my promise to you for you, so just trust me," Shego explained as best she could. There would never be enough words for her to truly express herself to her lover. No amount of words would ever be able to properly describe what she felt.

"You don't have to keep this promise. I trust you, I really do. I don't need you getting killed to prove that you're trustworthy and that you love me," the redhead stated.

"Go home and get some sleep, kitsune," the pale woman instructed the redhead with another sigh.

"Shego, please, let's just go. We can go anywhere and be free, just like you always want," Kim begged.

"That's not freedom, princess. That's just running and neither of us needs that. You have a life there in Edo and I don't want you to have to leave that."

Shego turned around to face her little kitsune. She leaned down to the teen and lifted her to her feet. She held Kim close to her and thought about how she had changed thanks to the teenaged warrior. Her meaning of freedom had somewhat changed. She had always wanted to do anything that she desired with her life as long as it was fun and that was freedom to her. Now, freedom was being able to be with Kim and she needed to obtain that freedom or death would be a welcome.

"I need you, Shego," Kim whispered.

"I need you too and that's why I have to do this. Thank you for everything, kitsune. I'm so glad we met," Shego said in a gentle tone.

"Me too," Kim agreed through some sniffles.

Shego did not want the farewell to be any longer than it already had; it was already tearing her apart on the inside. She was tempted to just take Kim up on that offer to run away, but Kim also made her want to do the right thing. They did not need to run and she was not going to, she promised herself. She was going to keep her word.

Shego leaned down and gave Kim a tender, almost chaste kiss. "Later, kitsune," she whispered and she released Kim. The raven-haired woman took off like a shooting star toward the city, leaving the redhead alone.

Kim could not keep herself up and she fell to her knees. She was in love with a woman that had just run off to her death to prove that she was trustworthy. She began to sob again because she did not know what else to do. She was going to lose Shego. It was not fair.

Why had she met Shego those few months ago if things were just going to end as they were? Why had they spent so much time together if everything was just going to end so suddenly? Why could they just not spend the rest of their lives together, even if things would have to change somehow between them? Anything would have been better than Shego running off to be crucified by the Shogun.

Shego would have been able to understand the questions floating around in Kim's mind, even though she was not asking herself any of those questions. She was merely happy that she had met Kim. The feeling was new to her, but it had been in there since she met the redhead and spent some time with her. She was rather certain that she had found what she had been seeking since she left home, since she had gone to be free.

They had freed each other, bringing something that they had not even known was missing from their lives. The feeling, whatever it was, love as Kim said or nameless in Shego's opinion, it had been the key to their invisible bonds. And now that they experienced that sensation, being apart was like going back into a tiny cage.

Shego walked through the streets of a waking Edo as if she did not have a care in the world, even though she was not in favor of where she was heading. She wished that there was some other way to prove herself, to get what she wanted, but if life was meant to be simple people would be born without attachments and everything a person would ever need to survive. She would endure and be strong because of the girl that she left crying at her special place.

At least she knew that she was worthwhile to Kim, she told herself as she continued on. After all, Kim had shed tears for her. A powerful warrior like Kim had bawled for her to stay. The thought itself made her heart begin to race. No one had ever cried for her before and it felt wonderful to know that she was cared for enough to be cried for. It was enough to make her want to cry, but she held that in. She was doing enough crazy things for one day, so she did not need to add weeping to that list.

She made it to Edo castle and looked at the structure. She sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. She took a deep breath to steel herself for what she was about to put herself through. She then entered the castle in her own special fashion, answering any questions from any guards with knock-out blows from her ignited fists. She was going to see the Shogun on her own terms.

* * *

Kim slowly made her way home, feeling and looking as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. She entered the manor and did not even bother with greeting her family, even though she knew that they were up and probably having one of their usual, eventful breakfasts. She just went straight to her room and unfolded her futon. She dropped down onto the mattress and fell into a dead sleep.

When she woke up, the only thing that Kim wanted to do was get clean and go back to sleep. She thought that if she slept enough, the agony that she was experiencing would fade from her body and she would not feel as if she had been drained of everything that made a person want to go on living. It was a plan that she was willing to try out, so she went to go bathe and ended up running into her mother.

"Kim-chan, when did you get home?" her mother asked while grabbing the teen in a tight embrace. She was so happy that her daughter was finally home and she hoped that the younger redhead was there to stay for a while now.

"I don't know. This morning, I guess," Kim answered in a mumble. She did not feel up to talking to anyone about anything at the moment.

"Is everything all right, Kim?" her mother inquired in a concerned tone. It was not quite often that anyone in their house was down, so it was easy to tell when something was wrong.

"Everything's fine. I'm just really tired," the martial artist replied in a voice that reflected her response. She sounded as close to death as one could be without actually dying.

"Oh, well, you should relax now that you're home. I can go prepare a bath for you if you want," Mika offered.

Kim considered the proposal. Maybe a hot bath would help. She took her mother up on that offer then. So, while Mika readied the hot bath, Kim went to clean herself off. She felt only slightly better when she was clean, but when she sank into the bath, it did not help much. She just remembered when she and Shego had spent time in the hot spring, which caused her to breakdown and cry again. She was thankful that she was alone.

When she was done with her weeping and her bath, she put on a plain yukata and went back to her bed. She found herself unable to go back to sleep, which she had expected since she was not a person that thrived off of a lot of sleep. She needed something to do, though. She was all too aware that if she just sat around doing nothing then she would end up crying again.

The redheaded teen thought about practicing some martial arts, but that seemed like so much work to her very weary body and mind. She picked up her katana and found that it felt like it weighed the same as a building. She tried her other weapons, but discovered that they all felt like the katana. Working out would definitely be too much work for her worn out body and mind, so she needed something different to do.

She then went and grabbed something that she usually would not even touch in a nightmare, her shamisen. She exited her room and sat down on the veranda outside the garden. She hung her legs over the veranda into the garden, even though her feet were bare. She plucked the strings of her instrument and began to play.

The soft, melancholic music slowly drifted through the house and caught the attention of her family. They all thought that it was rather odd for Kim to be playing an instrument that they all knew she despised, but they tried not to think anything about it for the moment. After almost an hour of music though, her parents decided to go have a talk with her, hoping that she would tell them what was wrong with her.

"Kim, is there something you want to talk about?" James asked while sitting down next to the teen. He sounded rather concerned and it was because of the odd behavior that his daughter was exhibiting. After all, she was playing an instrument that she used to hide under the house when his mother was around to avoid having to touch it.

"No," Kim answered in a small voice while being continuing to play.

"Are you sure, sweetie?" Mika inquired, sounding just as concerned as her husband.

"I am," Kim replied quickly and in a monotone voice. It was clear that whatever was eating away at her, she was not ready to share. Her parents respected that and just left her alone for the moment. She focused her attention on the shamisen and continued on playing. Maybe if she played long enough, Shego would hear and return to her.

* * *

"Director-sama," Mika said in a rather surprised tone as the one-eyed woman showed up at their home.

"Good afternoon, Possible-sensei," Betty replied, bowing slightly as a sign of respect.

"Um…Kim is having a rather bad day…" Mika began to say. She was not sure how to explain what her daughter was going through, but she knew that Kim was not in any state to do any more favors for Director-sama.

"Is she? Oh, well, I'm only here to offer her some news and thank her for her hard work. I'm not going to do much more than that," Betty explained in a sincere tone.

Mika nodded and smiled slightly. She was glad that Betty had not shown up to take her child once again. She motioned for the one-eyed woman to follow her and they walked to the section of the manor that Kim was last seen in. Kim was still there, playing her string instrument. She looked rather distressed, Betty noted.

The one-eyed woman wondered why Kim looked so down. She had managed to do the impossible and yet, she looked as if she was going to her death soon. It was a baffling thing. Betty considered that she might have to ask about as she sat down next to Kim. The redhead did not even glance at the older warrior.

"You know, I have to admit that when you decided to go after Shego that night, I thought you'd give up after not finding her and come back because she's good at giving people the slip. So, imagine my surprise when I hear that Shego showed up at the Shogun's castle this morning, acting out as usual, but she surrendered in order to see the Shogun. I thought that you probably had something to do with it," Betty commented, trying her best to sound friendly and she was succeeding. She was hoping that her tone would get Kim to open up, maybe even share how she got Shego to return to Edo and see the Shogun.

"Yeah, I beat her in a fight and she promised to go back," Kim grumbled, upset that she had won that battle now. A victory never tasted so bitter and rang so hollow as that one did. She probably would have felt better if Shego had killed her that day, like the pale woman had so badly desired to.

"Amazing to beat her in a fight. She is a skilled and masterful warrior," Betty commented and all Kim did was nod in response.

"Director-sama, I'm not up to another mission right now," Kim informed the one-eyed female.

"I'm not here to offer you one, Kim-dono. I only wanted to congratulate you on bringing Shego in. I can see you need a break and it is something that I can understand," Betty stated. She could understand because Vivian was still hounding her about taking a break. She still owed Vivian an afternoon of tea. She suspected that Vivian was going to just show up at her home sooner or later and poison her through tea and she knew that she would deserve no less.

"Thank you, Director-sama," Kim mumbled. She wished that she had it in her to ask about Shego, but she did not have the strength to do so. She did not want to find out that Shego was going to be crucified.

Betty sighed and decided to just leave Kim to her despair because that seemed what the girl wanted. She bid Kim farewell and Mika walked Betty out of the house. Mika returned to her daughter and sat down next to the girl, just listening to her play the shamisen.

"Your grandmother taught you well," Mika commented after a long moment. She could remember how much Kim tried to run and hide when she was younger and her grandmother came around with the shamisen. It was funny because to Kim the lessons seemed like terror incarnate, but she was very talented with that instrument now.

"I guess," Kim muttered.

"Kim-chan, tell me what's wrong," Mika gently requested.

"Mom, do you love Dad?" Kim asked curiously.

Mika smiled a bit, which answered the question probably better than words ever would or could. Still, Kim waited for a verbal response. She wanted an explanation of some kind and she was not sure why. Was she looking to find out that being in love was something common and happened often? Was she trying to discover if love was rare and something that she needed to hold onto tightly while she had it, which would lead her to do something extra stupid? What would the knowledge do for her, she asked herself. She did not know, but she still waited for her answer.

"I do love your father, very much," Mika answered. It was the honest and simple truth. People might wonder why, but she did love that man and she was certain that she always would.

"Have you always loved him?" Kim inquired with a curious look on her face.

"Well, I've always liked him," the doctor replied with another smile and a bit of a laugh. "Are you asking this because of your arranged marriage to Will-kun?"

The teenager groaned. "Mom, don't call him that." It sounded vile to her ears to hear him referred to in such a way.

"What? You don't think that's cute?" Mika teased her daughter slightly.

"No, I don't think Will's cute," the redheaded warrior answered bluntly and her mother laughed.

"I know you don't. So, are you asking this because of your arrangement with Du-san?" Mika asked seriously.

"No," Kim answered.

"Because I know you don't love him now, but you could grow to love him," the doctor said and her daughter looked at her rather skeptically. "Okay, maybe not love him, but surely, you won't kill or cripple him during your marriage," she amended her statement. It had to be possible that the two could get along just a little bit. They were going to have to because she knew that the heads of the two clans would not hold off their wedding for much longer.

"That has yet to be seen. Would you do anything for Dad?" Kim inquired.

"I think so," Mika replied. She had not been placed in a position to test that theory, but she was certain that she would do any and everything for her husband.

"Would you do anything to keep him?"

"I think so." Once again, she had not been put in a position where she might have to do anything to keep her husband, but she was certain that she would if she was placed in such a situation. She would not give James up for anything.

Kim thought on that for a moment. "Would he do anything for you?"

"I hope so," her mother answered. "Why are you asking these questions, though?"

"I think I'm just trying to get an idea as to what love is," Kim replied. She was certain that she loved Shego and she was trying to figure out what she should do about that. "If Dad claimed that he had to do something dangerous, probably even deadly to prove his love for you, would you let him do it?" the teen asked.

"I would try to fight him because I don't think he has to prove his love and I wouldn't want to lose him, but if he was hell bent on it, I suppose that I'd have to let him go. I guess I would just have to trust that he knew what he was doing. Love is about trust, among other things."

Kim nodded to show that she understood that. "What about staying with the one you love without going off to do anything stupid that doesn't need to be done?" the teen inquired in a slightly angry tone. She was upset that Shego had left her when she felt it was totally unnecessary. She already trusted Shego more than she would any other person not related to her, so the pale woman did not have to go run off to her death just to keep a promise.

"Sometimes, what you think is stupid and unnecessary is not seen as the same by others. You should at least wait to see what happens before judging what the person has to do as stupid anyway. Perhaps, it's actually a brilliant move," Mika commented with a shrug.

"I don't know," the younger redhead muttered. How could Shego going to her death more than likely actually be some brilliant move?

"Wait and see before judging," her mother said in an assuring tone. She was curious as to who Kim had fallen in love with. She knew that it could not possibly be Du Will. She knew that she should discourage Kim from such a thing because she was promised to Will, but she did not have it in her to do such a thing. If her daughter was in love, she just wished Kim the best. Her daughter deserved to be happy and there was no way that Du Will would ever provide her with such a thing. She only hoped that things worked out for the younger redhead.

Kim nodded to show that she would accept that advice. She continued on playing her shamisen. She did not know what else to do aside for wait and see. Once the scene played out, she figured that she would act. All she knew was that she could not and would not allow Shego to just die. She would do everything in her power to either save Shego or die with her because she doubted that she could go on without the pale woman.

* * *

Shego entered a room alone, closing the shoji behind her. She was cleaned up, hair presentable for the first time in a long time considering she had the time and the desire to comb it, and she was wearing her usual clothing, despite who she was meeting. She then caught sight of the screen. She sucked her teeth in annoyance. It had been enough that she had to wait so long to see him, but now he was going to pull out the screen? She was going to take that.

"Get real, you know I'm not talking to you through that damn thing," Shego said as she climbed to her feet.

"Stay where you are," came the firm order from behind the screen.

"Like hell I will," she declared and she stormed over to the screen. What did he think he was doing anyway, she asked herself. She grabbed the thing and flung it to the side of the room, revealing the Shogun.

"What the? You still don't listen, imouto (1)," Hego huffed, looking at Shego with slight anger dancing in his blue eyes. He thought that she would have learned to respect him by now with him being Shogun and everything, but she was still as cranky and undisciplined as ever in his opinion. What was he supposed to do with her?

* * *

1: imouto: younger sister.

* * *

Next time: the conclusion.


	31. Deus ex machina

I don't own these characters.

31: Deus ex machina

Shego frowned at her big brother, Hego, the Shogun. She was upset with him because he had the nerve to meet with her behind a screen as if she was some daimyo or someone else that would accept being beneath him. She was not looking to take that. She was even angry that he had the nerve to address her as "imouto," even though she was just that. She just did not have much patience when it came to her older brother.

"Are we going to talk like intelligent people or what?" Shego huffed, letting her anger be known through her tone, although it was evident from the look in her emerald eyes.

"If you could just sit down and be civil, imouto," Hego answered. He was more than familiar with the look in her eyes. He was pretty sure that the expression was the only one that she ever showed him.

"And stop calling me that. My name is Shego, use it," the green-skinned female stated firmly.

"Fine, _Shego_, sit down," the large male commanded, some anger in his voice now. The way she behaved toward him infuriated him like nothing else on the planet. She needed to show him respect, he thought. He was the shogun now, after all.

Shego continued to frown, but she did do as he said. She sat down in front of him, mere inches from the most powerful man in the country, literally and figuratively. In turn, he did not look too pleased either, although he was grateful that his sister was back considering the fact that she had run away years ago in a rather irresponsible manner.

"It's good to have you back," he said in a rather insincere manner. He was all right with her being back; she belonged there, after all. He just wished that she would learn how to behave properly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she replied in a flippant tone. She did not want to be in a room with her older brother. She thought that he was an arrogant ass and that was before he became the Shogun. He had only gotten worse since gaining the position in her opinion, so she really did not like being in the same place as he was.

"I know you had something to do with these most recent plots against me," he commented, trying to sound calm and collected.

Shego smirked, obviously more amused with anything than ashamed. "I was just doing what the man I was promised to wanted me to," she replied as if the attempt on her brother's life was nothing.

"You mean to tell me that there is a man that you'd listen to who isn't our father?" he asked incredulously. He thought that it would take massive amounts of torture to get his younger sister to do what any man said that was not their father.

"Not particularly, no. The plot obviously wasn't very serious since you're still alive," she pointed out while motioning to him lazily with her right hand.

"Do you really want my birthright so badly that you would try to kill me?" he inquired, letting some emotion slip into his voice.

Shego could tell that her brother was hurt by her actions. She looked away, hating that she felt a ping of guilt over his pain. Sure, he was a jackass and she disliked him, but he was her big brother. He had once saved her life, even though he had not done it very humbly. She did not want the big idiot to feel any kind of pain because of her, maybe annoyance and frustration, but not pain.

"Hego, you know that if I wanted your position or if I wanted you dead, I'd just kill you right now. I'm not the little girl that couldn't beat you in a fight anymore and we both know that. So, stop acting like a baby," she replied rather unsympathetically and the agonized look in his eyes vanished like a discovered ghost.

"Then you're telling me that you were just following Junior-san around because you were supposed to be married to him?" Hego asked incredulously.

"No, not really. I was hanging out with Drakken and he happened to hook up with Senior-sama. Funny, Junior-san wasn't as horrible as I imagined him to look, but he was dumber than a stone. He thankfully didn't recognize me," Shego replied with a small, amused smile.

"Well, you were both really young when you met before. I hardly remembered what Junior-san looked like," he commented absently.

"You executed them all, didn't you?" she asked curiously. She needed confirmation on what happened to Drakken more than anything. He was probably going to be on her mind for the rest of her life, she considered. She might be able to get over the whole "I failed him" thing because the man was an idiot and did not take things seriously when the situation called for it, but he was still _her_ idiot and he was gone.

"I had to. You know the law," he stated simply. She knew what had to be done to traitors, so he did not even see why she was asking him such an obvious question.

"That I do," she answered. "I just wanted to be sure."

Shego had to know what happened to Drakken and part of her was sorrowful over losing him. Maybe that part of her would always be there, which she did not mind much. But, she had to move forward in life, especially since she had things to live for now. She had someone that she needed to get back to.

"So, you'll be staying here now. I've got a fine lord that you could marry," Hego started up being his usual self already, trying to control her life, in her opinion anyway.

"Hold on, chief. You're getting way ahead of yourself. I'm staying here in the city maybe and I'm not getting married. I'm here to tell you how to get me to stay some place you know where I am for the most part and you'll never have to worry about me possibly being involved in a plot to take your title," Shego explained.

"What are you talking about?" he asked with a slightly puzzled expression gracing his strong features.

"I want you to give me Possible Kim," the pale woman stated.

"I can't just give you a girl, especially a girl from a prominent family that's already engaged to be married to a boy from another prominent family. Besides, Father and Mother told you about this already," Hego argued.

Hego knew about his sister's "quirk." He once caught her with her friend when she was little. He had not really known what to make of it, but he told their father about it and he knew that it got Shego into a lot of trouble. It took him a while to process the information, but he eventually figured it out, especially after overhearing a few conversations between their parents and his sister. It would seem that she was not over that "quirk," despite all of the reprimands that she had taken from their parents.

"Hego, just do this one thing for me," Shego requested. She did not order him to do it and she did not use force in her voice. She was actually asking for a favor for him, which he did not seem to recognize.

"I can't just give you a girl. First of all, what you want is wrong—" he started, but she cut him off.

"Damn it, Hego. This is not a good time to piss me off. I came here, I'm talking to you, and I'm asking you for something that I could just as easily get myself. You might not understand what the hell it means to love someone, to need someone, but I do and I came here actually out of a sign of fucking respect just to do things right and to make sure that nothing happens and now you're acting like the dick I know you to be," she declared in a heated tone.

Hego was a bit taken back by that. He was used to his sister being crude with him, even vulgar. He was used to the childish names, but he was not accustomed to hearing her talk about loving anybody and respect toward him. He knew that she loved certain people, even though she never said it and he knew that she respected certain people, even though she never said it, but it was shocking to hear the words from her lips.

"What are you trying to say?" he asked.

"Hego, just let me have Kim. I'm not going to run away with her or anything. I just need to be near her, with her. Okay?" she replied in a calm tone. She reminded herself that she was trying to do things the right way and she needed to be calm about things. The last thing she needed at the moment was to get into an argument with Hego.

"Shego," he sighed the name. He did not know what else to do or say at the moment.

"Please," she requested, which only stunned him more. She even bowed her head to him. She just wanted to be able to live her life in peace with Kim and she knew that the best was for that to happen would be if she had the Shogun's permission.

"Imouto…" he whispered in pure shock. He had expected her to threaten him for what she wanted, not beg.

"Please, oniisan (1)," she repeated, bowing even lower. Her pride ached and she felt her eyes starting to swell with water, whether it was humiliation at her actions or sorrow that she might not get her desires, she did not know or care. She would humble herself before her brother if it meant that he would just leave her be and let her live out her life with Kim and only Kim. She did not want to hear him talk about marrying her off to anyone as their father had done so long ago. She just wanted to be happy like any other person and for that to happen, she knew that she needed to be with a certain crazy little kitsune.

Hego sighed again, bothered by the situation she was trying to get him into. What would it take for his little sister to understand that he could not just give her a girl for whatever reasons that she wanted her? It would bring a scandal the likes of which no shogun had ever seen. Besides, it was morally wrong. Their parents had been very much against her doing what she did with girls, after all.

"Shego, this girl is already engaged to be married," Hego said, hoping that he could get his sister to be reasonable. He knew of Kim's betrothal to Will because he had to approve it and the heads of those families were eager for the union.

"But, she loves me…" Shego admitted in a whisper. She had not known that Kim was engaged and she really did not care. She knew how Kim felt about her and how the redhead made her feel, which were the only important matters in her opinion.

"Shego, surely, if you stay here, you will meet someone—" he tried to reason with her.

"I won't!" she insisted in a thick tone. "I don't expect you to understand this. I don't expect you to even condone it. I just expect you to help me do this the right way."

"There's nothing right about this. You want a girl when you're a girl yourself," he pointed out with some fire in his tone. He was getting a little emotional himself. How dare she come and ask him to do something that could compromise their entire family?

Shego swallowed hard and then raised her head, allowing her brother to see something that he had never seen in her before. Shego appeared ragged and tired. She looked vulnerable. He supposed that he did not understand what she was going through because he could not comprehend what would make her look like that. What could possibly make his sister, who he knew his father would have made Shogun if only she had been born a boy, look ready to burst into tears?

"I came to you to do this as proper as the situation allowed. I came to you in respect—" Shego started but, he cut her off.

"You came to me because I'm in power and I'm your brother," he pointed out. She came to use him in his opinion.

"Is that what you think? I don't give a damn about your power. Had anyone else been in this fucking position I wouldn't even bother with it. I would've taken Kim like she pled with me to do and never looked back. But, we're family and I thought I could behave a little bit for once and be nice, but fuck nice because what the hell do you know about it? You're just an arrogant prick that wouldn't know how to help a person if your fucking life depended on it. I tell you what, I'm going to go and take Kim and I'm going to leave a note at the Possible household telling them if they have a problem with it, they should come and talk to you. We'll see how long your reign lasts with that clan breathing down your back. I'm sure Kim's fiancé won't be too please about things either, so his family will undoubtedly be here too. And maybe on my way out, I'll remind the twins and Mego that they could do a better job then you at being shogun and they'll believe it when they see all the trouble you're in when those clans come knocking at your door," Shego stated, now looking like her usual smug self. She could ruin her big brother if the urge ever overcame her and he seemed to need to know that.

"Are you threatening me?" he demanded to know. He was the Shogun and he was not about to let his _little_ sister threaten him.

"No, baka, I'm promising you. I can make your life a living hell, whether you're Shogun or not because I don't give a fuck and it seems that you only understand shit when it has something to do with you. I made the mistake of thinking that you might care, but since that's obviously not the case, I don't see why I should try to be nice to you anymore," she said in an almost wicked tone with a matching glint her eyes.

Hego stared at his sister, who had that challenging gleam in her eyes that he knew all too well. He had pushed her to being underhanded, she huffed mentally. She was willing to sit there and talk things out as if they were two adults, but he had not accepted that. He still had to act like he knew everything and piss her off.

"I can't just give you a girl," he insisted. It just was not right or proper. It was not something that their father would do.

"She wants me. All you have to do is promise to never bother us and I'll handle the rest. You'll never have to see me again," she informed him.

"That's not what I want, imouto," he argued. He did not know where she got the idea that he wanted her to go away. He did not want their family to be spilt up. She was about to let him know that it was not always about him and she did not have any idea that he wanted her to go away.

"It's not about what you want! If you want to be my older brother, it's too late. You've been an asshole for this long and I know from this interaction that it's not going to change. If you want to control my life for whatever fucking reasons, I'm not going to let you. This is my life and I'll live it how I want. I've found my happiness and I'm not going to let you stand in the way of things because you think you know every damn thing. I try to talk to you like we're civilized beings and all you can do is talk down to me because you're the Shogun and you're my older brother. Did it ever occur to you that if you spoke to my like a person, like you respected me that I might actually listen to whatever the hell you had to say? No, and you know why? Because you're too fucking stupid to realize that. So, just give me what I want and we can be fucking done with each other. We don't have to cause each other any more grief than we have," she pointed out, sounding heated, but speaking in a mostly even tone.

"Shego…" he was not sure what to say, what to argue. Why was it every time that they got together they argued? Why was it that she just could not do what he said like everyone else? She had always listened to their father, so he did not understand why she would not listen to him. It never seemed to reach his brain that he was not her father and she resented that he tried to act like he was.

"It's boiled down to now a very simple thing, Hego-chan," she said, mocking him with the "-chan" at the end of his name. She even spoke his name with a goofy grin on her face to further mock him. "You can agree or disagree. Weigh your options carefully."

"If I agree, not only am I allowing you to do the wrong thing and bring a very righteous girl with you, but I'm interfering with the Du clan, the Director clan, and also the Possible clan."

"The Director clan?" Shego echoed. "You mean to say that Kim is to be married to Director Betty's nephew then?" she asked curiously. She knew that Director Betty's sister had married into the Du clan and bore a son. Could that be Kim's intended?

"She is," he confirmed.

"Well now, that does make things even better. I suppose I should have just spoken to Betty about this and not even bothered with coming to see you. At least she's reasonable," she remarked. Things were starting to look up, she thought.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just agree, oniisan," she ordered him, still mocking him. Only she could make fun of him by calling him something that she was supposed to.

"I can't," he objected firmly.

"You can. Save yourself the grief. Just say 'yes' right now and then you can pretend this whole conversation never even happened. I was never even here," she said.

"You have a plan," he realized.

"I have something, but I have no desire to share the details with you. Now, say 'yes' and our business will be complete."

Hego thought about it. Shego was going to do what she wanted to do anyway, that was how she operated. At the moment, he had the option of saving face and forgetting that things ever happened or having to deal with a mess she would undoubtedly unleash upon him judging by how upset she was. He gulped and gave her a very small, almost unnoticeable nod. She smiled at him like an evil cat and then she exited the room, leaving him to his duties and his illusions that the conversation they had just had never happened.

Shego left the castle altogether and then went in search of Director Betty. If her memory served her correctly, she knew how to get to the woman's home, only to find out that Betty was not there. She considered that the one-eyed female could be working, as she had a horrible habit of doing all the time or she could be at her favorite torture chamber. Shego banked on the torture chamber and was correct. It would seem that Vivian had finally gotten hold of Betty to have tea with her.

"Isn't this place a little lowbrow for a Director?" Shego commented with an amused smile as she entered the room, startling the other two ladies.

"Shego-sama," Betty gasped while Vivian could not even find her voice once Betty said the name. Vivian had heard a lot about Shego from Betty over the years, including that she was the daughter of the previous shogun and sister of the current shogun.

"Come on, Betty, I'd like to think we've made it past all this 'sama' crap. I mean, with the history we have and everything," Shego replied with an amused, slightly demonic smirk.

"I suppose so," Betty chuckled and the blonde in the room was now lost.

"What history is that?" Vivian gently prodded, staring some rather pointed daggers in Betty's direction.

"Nothing, just childhood memories. We used to really good friends when we were younger," Betty answered before Shego could open her mouth. "So, Shego, why don't you join us?" she offered while motioning to the small table between her and Vivian.

"All right," the green-skinned woman agreed and she sat down. Vivian served her a cup of tea and they sat silently for a moment.

"What brings you around here? I thought you were going back home," Betty said to Shego.

"I just went to see my brother. He was useless to me as usual," Shego replied while rolling her eyes. She was irked just thinking about that big idiot.

"He might be more open to suggestions if you stop putting yourself in plots to overthrow him," the one-eyed female pointed out, sounding both serious and kidding at the same time.

"I doubt it," Shego replied with a scoff. He was never open to suggestions after all.

"I know," Betty agreed. The current shogun certainly did not match up to the former. She supposed that there was time and room for him to grow into the man that his father was. He did seem to try, but he was just living in the shadow of a great man, a great dead man.

"Excuse me, Shego-san, have I seen you before?" Vivian asked curiously. There was something about the raven-haired female that seemed very familiar to her.

"I doubt that," Shego replied.

Betty smiled knowingly. She gathered that Shego was probably the silent bodyguard that used to frequent the teahouse with the now deceased traitors, the Seniors and Drakken. It seemed ironic to her that they would come to Vivian's place of all locations, although Vivian did run a top notch establishment. She did know that it was lucky for her that they ended up at Vivian's place because she was able to find out about their plot, which could have been rather serious if they had not been caught before they were able to start fighting with those weapons that they had.

"So, like I said, what brings you by?" Betty asked with an arched eyebrow. She was a bit surprised that the green-skinned woman even remembered where the teahouse was that she tended to spend her free time at. Shego had never gone with her to the teahouse to know that she was usually there, which was probably one of the reasons that Shego had not objected when the plotters that she was with went there.

"I'll tell you in a moment. So, whatever happened to your fat husband?" Shego asked curiously. Sure, she had not seen Betty in a number of years, but she still recalled things about her friend.

"The fat bastard died years ago thankfully," the one-eyed woman answered. Vivian looked away, mostly to hide the fact that she was smiling over that statement.

Shego laughed a bit. "You always did have good luck. You fulfilled your family obligation and still managed to get out of it. So, now you get to live your life the way you want."

"Is someone green with envy?" Betty teased.

"Something like that," the pale woman admitted with a friendly smile. "Definitely something like that. So, I hear your nephew is engaged to the person that tracked me down."

"Oh, yeah," Betty replied and nodded. The look on her face was an odd one, though, in Shego's opinion anyway. The chocolate-haired female looked ready to burst into a fit of laughter over her nephew's engagement.

"So, what's the little couple like?"

The one-eyed woman did laugh now; she could not help it. "They were supposed to get married two years ago, but we're all still trying to figure out how it'll be possible for them to be left alone in a small place for an extended period of time. We're pretty sure they'd fight to the death before consummating the marriage."

"Match made in Hell, huh?" Shego remarked. She was very glad to hear that. It was good to know that her princess really was hers and not inclined to even be with the man that she was promised to.

"This would be the problem with pairing young people up before they're old enough to talk because had we just waited until they could talk, they would've let us know things weren't going to end well. Although their first meeting and how they got into a fist fight at the age of two should've tipped us off," Betty remarked.

Shego laughed. "That does sound like a clue."

"She's called him 'big head' through out her life and he's referred to her as 'busybody' for just as long. Those kids…they're never going to be happy together," Betty stated soundly with a disappointed sigh. She knew that and she wished that their families would just leave them be. They had had a lot of time to consider leaving the pair be by waiting for a long time before looking for the Shogun's permission to let the two get married, but even with all of that time, they still seemed to make the wrong decision for the teens. Everyone knew that they would never be anything but antagonistic toward each other, but no one would say it, but that was why no one was in hurry for them to get married. Still, she knew that one day, the heads of their families were going to force those two to get married.

"Has anyone thought to sit down and talk with them to find out how they might be happy and still fulfill family obligations?" Shego asked curiously.

"No, it makes too much sense," the one-eyed woman remarked.

"What if we did that?" the raven-haired female proposed.

"We?" Betty echoed.

"And this would be the reason I'm here. I'll explain it to you if we can all get together and talk about it at your place," Shego said.

"If I leave right now, Vivian-san is going to slit my throat the next time she sees me, with my own katana," Betty replied while glancing at Vivian, who nodded to confirm that the brown-haired woman spoke the truth.

Shego smirked a bit. "She's got on a tight line, huh? Someone needs to control you before you work yourself to death. If you're going to be doing what you love, it should at least be a person."

Vivian blushed at the remark, which Shego thought was amusing. It seemed like everyone was trying to make her believe that she was the only vulgar person on the planet. Betty merely swallowed her tea rather hard and then began to cough as it went down the wrong way.

"Okay, you know what, Vivian-san, I'll see you later. Let me get her out of here before she says something worse," Betty said as she put her tea cup down.

Vivian pouted, making sure to overdo it in order to get to the one-eyed warrior. "But, you never come back when you say that."

"I promise I will come back. Let me just find out what she wants and I'll come right back," Betty vowed while climbing to her feet and pulling Shego out of the room. As they were exiting down the hall Betty could be heard screaming, "WHAT!"

* * *

Shego and Betty were sitting in a room in Betty's home, waiting for Kim and Will to show up. Betty's whole jaw was tense, along with the rest of her body actually. She could not believe the things that Shego had the nerve to tell her. That had to be the weirdest conversation that they had ever had since they met and there were a lot of conversations to beat to hold that title. She could not believe the position that she was in now thanks to her so-called friend.

"You do know I hate you now, right?" Betty grumbled, speaking out of the side of her mouth for some reason while not bothering to look at the pale woman in her company.

"It took you this long? You must've liked me a lot then," Shego remarked with a smart-ass smirk on her face.

"Thank kami-sama (2) these two didn't like each other in the slightest or I might really be pissed at you," the one-eyed woman stated, sounding pissed anyway. She would have killed Shego if her nephew had actually had feelings for Kim, but they did not have to worry about that.

"Oh, so it's my fault she's a kick ass kitsune? Sounds like something you should blame on her parents," Shego quipped, still looking like quite the smart-ass.

"I don't believe this. I can only pray that Will-kun takes this well or I'm going to have to kill myself," Betty said with a groan.

"Why do you always swear that every time something might go wrong you'll probably have to kill yourself? The world is not interested in seeing you spill your guts, so calm down. I don't see you freaking out about how you'll have to commit suicide if someone finds you hanging out with Vivian-san," Shego pointed out.

"Just shut up," Betty grumbled. When it came to Vivian, the consequences of her actions be damned.

"And you still can't beat me in an argument," the pale woman boasted.

Betty just glared at Shego, thoroughly hating the green-skinned warrior at the moment. They did not have a chance to continue the conversation as the guests of honor arrived. Will and Kim managed to enter the room without shoving to go in first, which surprised Betty; little did she know, but they had gotten that out of the way at the front gate with Kim practically throwing Will to the ground, so she could go in ahead of him. He was still rather upset about it and that could be seen on his face.

"Shego?" Kim said in surprised when she noticed the pale woman. She wanted to go throw herself on the emerald-eyed female to make sure she was real, but she refrained from such a spectacle. She was just happy to see her beloved alive.

"Hey, kitsune," Shego replied with a smirk. She wiggled her eyebrows at the redhead.

"Come on in and sit down, you two. We need to talk," Betty said while gesturing for the teens to enter and sit, which they did after making sure the door was closed.

Kim sat next to Shego, which caught Betty's attention and Shego grinned at her as if saying "I told you so." Betty rolled her eye because of Shego's smug expression. Will sat down next to his aunt, which was expected. The teens then looked at the two older females, waiting for explanations as to why they were summoned.

"Okay, first of all, what is said in this room is to stay in this room. Understood?" Betty said to the teenage warriors and they quickly agreed.

"So, what's going on?" Kim asked, speaking mostly to Shego because she was curious as to why the pale woman was there.

"Where to begin?" Betty sighed.

"Let me handle it, Betty," Shego volunteered and then she turned her attention to Will. "Here's the extremely short version, Will-san. I'm in love with your fiancée and I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her, whether you like it or not and there's no way for you to stop me."

"Excuse me?" Will said and he turned to his aunt, hoping for a better explanation. One that did not seem so out of the blue to him.

"Spend the rest of your life with me?" Kim echoed while looking at Shego. She hoped that was the truth.

"That's right," Shego assured the redhead while putting her arm around Kim's slender waist. She was not letting her little kitsune get away from her. She definitely was not going to allow someone else to have Kim.

"Obasan (3)?" Will was totally confused and just waiting for Betty to jump in and explain everything.

"Well, basically, Shego is in love with Kim-dono and as I've come to understand it the feeling is mutual," Betty started and Kim cut in.

"It is," the redhead said in an assuring manner. She hoped that her word was enough for Will to back off and not hold any stock in their engagement, so that she could be with her tenshi.

"Okay, as you can hear, it is returned. Shego has no intention of coming in between the family obligation that you both have to get married. As you know, our clan leaders won't have it any other way, but she wants you to give her as much time with Kim as she wants, which includes sharing her bed," Betty explained.

"Then how would we complete the family obligation?" Will inquired in a puzzled tone. Of course being married was only the beginning. They were expected to produce children too, not that he was looking forward to doing that with Kim either. He doubted that anyone would ever understand just how deep his hatred for the olive-eyed samurai ran and he would never touch her in a way that could produce children. Kim probably would not let him touch her if he wanted to since she seemed to return his hatred full-force.

"Once a week Kim will share your bed," Shego said to the young man.

"I will?" Kim jumped in. She did not recall agreeing to that and she damn sure had no intention of going through with it. She would cut his head off before allowing him to touch her in any kind of way that did not involve fighting and even when they were fighting, she was often trying to cut his head off. He just had a solid defense, which allowed him to keep his head.

"You are going to have to sleep with him sometime, kitsune. You have to have children by the guy," Shego pointed out. She was not very much in favor of the idea either, but they had family obligations to uphold and she knew that Betty would not side with her if she tried to get them to go against their families' wishes.

Kim frowned; she did not like the idea much, but she supposed Shego was right. Well, it was better once a week than every night as it would have been if they were just married with no compromise occurring. She figured that she would be able to endure that if it meant she could be with Shego for the rest of her life, although when she glanced at Will, she had a feeling that she would not even have to endure the once a week part of the deal. It would seem that he wanted to touch her just as much as she wanted to touch him, which was good. They might be able to live through the marriage after all.

"And what do I get out of all of this?" Will asked. It seemed to him that he was getting screwed in the deal.

"Oh, I forget that you Directors are very practical about things. You'll bend the rules, but only when you get something in return," Shego commented.

Will nodded. It was a Director trait to be willing to do something wrong, as long as they were getting something out of it. He was not willing to just negotiate a wedding that he did not even want to take place without getting something in return. He would much rather continue to be at odds with that redheaded busybody until his grandfather realized that he would rather freeze to death than mate with Kim, although he noticed that their grandparents were not accepting the fact that they would rather slay each other than have sex together.

"You can have the same deal," Kim said, which throw off Will's thoughts.

"Excuse me?" the male replied, as if he did not know what she meant.

"You can have the same. Look, Du-san, I've…well, okay, I've see you with Josh-kun," Kim commented and what she was implying made Betty's jaw drop. Too much information, Betty's mind was screaming.

"You've seen me with who?" Will asked, his voice trembling ever so slightly. He was managing to look as if he had no clue what she meant, though.

"I've seen you with Josh-kun. You know that he is good friends with me and Ron-kun. Sometimes, when we used to go to pick him up to do little nonsense things, we'd see you with him. You could be with him and I can be with Shego," Kim stated.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Will objected, holding his head up as if he was offended by the very suggestion.

"Du-san," Kim said in a stern tone.

"I don't," he insisted.

"You don't have to be ashamed just because Josh-kun is an artist and his status is beneath you," the redhead argued.

"I'm not," Will huffed. "And stop trying to talk like you know about it." He could not believe that she would just bring up Josh and his status while his aunt was sitting right there, even though they were keeping what was said in the room in the room.

"Okay, kiddies, you're time is up," Shego commented because she could tell that things were just going to go downhill from there. She also suspected that she was going to have to keep talking since it looked like Betty had just learned more about her nephew than she needed to know. "Look, Will, this is the compromise, take it or leave it. You can have Josh and I can have Kim and everybody goes home happy at the end of the day," Shego said.

Will thought on it for a long moment. "None of this leaves this room, right?" he asked and the ladies nodded. "Fine. We'll get married in the spring then," he agreed, sounding rather huffy about it.

"So soon?" Kim muttered and shivered in disgust.

"Might as well get it out of the way. But, I'm not sleeping with you that first night," Will stated with an attitude. He doubted that he was going to sleep with her at all. He was pretty sure all it would lead to would be him vomiting for the rest of the week.

"Fine by me," Kim replied with just as much attitude. She was not going to let him touch her anyway and probably never would, even though they had just agreed to fulfill their obligations. She just could not bring herself to it. She so thoroughly detested Will that she would sooner kill herself than be touched by him.

"Then it's settled. See you then," Will said as if that was an insult and then he got up and left. He hated being in a room with that girl.

"You didn't know about Josh, huh?" Shego said to Betty.

"I still don't know about Josh. The last thing I need to know is about my father's only grandson is having an affair with an artist. Is it a long term thing?" Betty asked Kim curiously, although she could guess with the way her nephew had agreed to things.

"Well, I've known about it for about a year and a half now," Kim replied and Betty looked like she was ready to have a heart attack. Well, it did explain something beyond the major problem that he had with Kim as to why he was in no rush to get married.

"That's not an affair. That's a relationship," Shego remarked.

"I wasn't here for any of that. In fact, I wasn't even here while you all had this discussion," the one-eyed woman commented.

"You were with Vivian-san, huh?" the green-skinned woman asked with a devilish smirk.

"Yeah, keep that up and I'm not going to let you stay here," Betty commented.

"Stay here?" Kim echoed in a curious tone.

"Well, I've got to stay somewhere, unless you think your parents are ready to meet your kick-ass, green-as-hell, drop-dead-gorgeous female lover," Shego pointed out with a bit of a laugh. Betty had agreed to let her stay at her home for the time being. They had not discussed how long that was going to be.

"I can see your point," the redhead replied with a smile.

"All right, see the point and you two can show yourselves out. I've got some place to be if I don't want to lose my good eye," Betty quipped as she stood up and exited the room, going back to Vivian.

As soon as Betty was gone, Kim flung herself onto Shego and embraced her tightly. The redhead sighed in great relief. Shego was solid, real, and very much not dead. Shego smiled and returned the hug.

"I'm so happy you came back, tenshi," Kim said, speaking into Shego's kimono as she pressed herself into the older female. There were no words to express how good it felt to her to be with the pale woman and for her to be alive.

"Of course I was coming back. I can't just leave my kitsune alone in some gilded cage, right?" Shego replied with a warm smile.

The redhead did not respond to that. She leaned up and placed a passionate kiss on Shego's tempting mouth. The raven-haired woman wasted no time returning the show of affection, causing it to blaze brilliantly with endless love. The kiss declared things that words never could, as their feelings just could not be expressed verbally. It also proclaimed that they would never be apart if it could be helped. They were going to be together forever now. They were free.

* * *

1: Oniisan: elder brother.

2: Kami-sama: God.

3: Obasan: aunt.

* * *

The end. An epilogue is on the way.


	32. Epilogue: Poetry in motion

I don't own these characters.

Epilogue: Poetry in motion

_The small fox awakes _

_in her bed—warm and green _

_She is mine forever_

Kim was sitting in the doorway with her shamisen in her hands. She was strumming the strings almost unconsciously and looking up on the dark, starlit sky. She was dressed in a plain white yukata with her legs pressed together and bent at the knee, coming up to her side and leaving her comfortable curled up in the entryway. Her fingers moved nimbly, commanding her instrument and making a melody that was soft and sweet, surprising for a woman that just got married a few months ago to a man that she thoroughly and utterly detested.

Kim had married Du Will. Neither of them really knew what they were going to do about the predicament that they were in now, namely being married. It seemed like the logical thing to do because they were well aware that it was going to happen one day with the way their grandparents worked, but they really did not know what to make of it. After all, they still thoroughly despised each other. In fact, they seemed to resent each other more after the wedding, which they had consented to. Because they had agreed, it seemed weird to people that they would hate each other even more.

They now hardly even addressed each other when speaking. They would talk through someone else or just act like the other was not there. They now got into physical fights over space issues rather than from insults. They seemed to despise having the other within a certain amount of inches and if there was a chance that they might brush up against each other, then there was a chance for swords to clash. The new hostilities might have stemmed from them being at a loss as to what they should do in a marriage, even if they had no plans to do what was expected of them beyond getting married. They just did not like the concept, even if they were not going to be doing what married couples do.

The wedding did not make much sense to most of the people that knew them. Stoppable Ron's exact words were "this is the very definition of wrong-sick!" in his usual excitable fashion. His wife, Yori was only less candid by wondering whose funeral they would be attending in the upcoming weeks; she was leaning toward Will's because she had seen enough fights between the pair to know that Kim could take Will down with the proper motivation. Sharing a marital bed had to be proper motivation for Kim, Yori thought.

The pair's parents were more than a little baffled by their offspring suddenly agreeing with the marriage arrangement. They were also suspicious of it, each side making sure that the other was not plotting a death. They were so suspicious that the Possibles objected with Kim going to live in the Du home and the Director/Du families objected to Will living with the Possibles. There was a simple solution worked out, which both Kim and Will liked, which was that they would live in Betty's home.

It was agreed that the newlyweds would stay at Betty's house, everyone agreeing that Betty was sort of a neutral party. Well, she was the most neutral among them anyway. She also had plenty of room in her home since she had never had any children due to the fact that her husband had died early on in their marriage. Betty acted like she had never been married as soon as that happened; never having any love for the man she had been promised to anyway. She did open her home to Will and Kim, though. She did not mind having them around because she liked both of them. There was also the fact she wanted both of them to live long lives and she could make sure that happened by keeping an eye on them and preventing them from slaughtering each other.

Kim was currently at her new home and sitting outside of her bedroom. The room opened up into a wonderful garden that was in the manor. There were other advantages to the room; the main one being that it was as far away from her husband's room as possible while still being on the property. Yes, she and Will had different quarters in the house on total opposite ends of the manor and they preferred it when they both stayed on their designated sides. It meant that they would not see each other, except for the few times that the whole household took meals together; that was exceptionally rare because even then, Kim and Will managed to get into battles. So, really, everyone preferred it when they stayed on their proper sides of the house because it kept things peaceful and fewer things got broken.

"Hey, little kitsune. You're still playing for me?" Shego asked with a yawn as she crawled over to Kim. She embraced the redhead from behind, which allowed Kim to continue to play and the samurai played on.

Kim only smiled; of course she was still playing the shamisen for Shego. She only played the dreadful instrument for her green-skinned lover. It had a soothing effect on Shego and helped her relax, along with the occasional bottle of sake. The redhead had been strumming the shamisen to help her lover unwind, which let to the pale woman taking a nap.

Shego and Kim stayed in the same quarters in the house, although there were threats coming from Betty that she was going to have to throw Shego out. The pale woman had the bad habit of teasing Betty a great deal of the time and the one-eyed woman did not appreciate it. They were both certain the threats were mostly idle, though.

Shego made herself comfortable against Kim, resting her head on Kim's shoulder. She sighed, a content sound as she listened to the music and eyed the sky. She had never felt so at peace in all of her life as she had the past few months living under the same roof as Kim, and sharing a bed with her too was a bonus. The best part of it was that she was not sharing Kim like she thought she might have to. Will never showed up to take Kim to share his bed so that they could consummate their marriage.

It was quite clear that Will and Kim were never going to consummate their marriage either. They avoided each other as often as possible and if they came into contact in the house, they ignored each other or fought. On the rare occasions that they came into contact with each other in the outside world, they tried to ignore each other, unless they were on a mission. Being on a mission made things business as usual for Will and Kim with him trying to act superior to her and she would set out to prove that he was actually the inferior one. People were still waiting for one of them to kill the other when they were out on missions, but Betty tried to the best of her ability to not have Kim and Will on the same assignment when she commissioned Kim's assistance. Still, they sometimes accidentally met up due to Kim doing a mission for someone else and she would run into Will or he would run into her and a mess would ensue.

Depending on her mood and what was going on, Shego would help Betty out by going out on assignments too. Without having that to do, Shego would undoubtedly drink her days away with money that she collected from her few years in the underworld. Well, she would probably drink and read since Shego had quite the love for stories and poetry. She mostly read when she was left alone, which she liked every now and then like most people. Kim easily understood that since she sometimes needed time to herself too.

When they were not on missions, Kim and Shego were often together, sparring, training, reading, or doing some other thing. But, Kim did still go out with her friends and Shego was not very interested in going out with all of them. So, when Kim was gone that was when Shego took time to enjoy her time alone.

"Are you going to do another poem for me?" Kim asked curiously. She had a collection of fans that Shego had written her love poems on. Things like that worked as incentive to get Kim to play the shamisen for Shego.

"Not tonight. We should do something fun," the emerald-eyed warrionr answered with a devilish smile on her face that Kim noticed out of the corner of her eye.

"Like what?" Kim asked with her brow furrowed in confusion. She supposed that she could guess what her lover was talking about since they were in the house by themselves. Will was out on a mission and Betty had "gone out" without explaining where she was going. Shego guessed that Betty went to go see Vivian since she had not been by the blonde's place in a few weeks.

"Let's go out on the town, Princess. This is Edo. There's a million things to do and you're trying to keep me sleeping by playing this soft song," Shego commented while putting her hands on Kim's hands to get her to stop playing the shamisen, which was different.

Usually, Shego was all for hearing her lover play all night. Kim appeared shocked, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open because of the response and also from Shego's actions. The pale woman chuckled just a bit from her beloved's expression and could not help placing a light kiss to Kim's partially opened mouth. The kiss seemed to snap the samurai out of her stupor.

"Is that all right?" the redhead inquired as if she expected something to go wrong if they went out together. The idea never would have popped into her head if only Shego had not proposed it before kissing her.

"What do you mean? You don't want to be seen with me, kitsune?" the pale woman teased, nipping her love's neck to add to her tone. She smiled against her mate's warm flesh, which was not helping Kim think straight at all.

Kim giggled a bit before answering. "It's not that and you know it. What if someone sees us out together?"

"So? It's not like we're wearing signs that says 'I'm fucking her,'" Shego remarked with a slight laugh. The redhead did not seem to be expecting such hard language and went stiff from shock for a brief second. She turned to face her pale lover for Shego to see that she did not appreciate the line. The raven-haired woman continued to look amused because she had given that response to show Kim how ridiculous her mind was working at the moment. They were just going out, like any friends would do when they were bored, as they had done on several occasions.

"I can see your point on that," the redhead conceded. She realized just how silly she was being by assuming people would know that they were lovers. Her mind just was not working as properly as it should because Shego was kissing and caressing her; such things made it very hard to remain rational.

No one knew what she and Shego were to each other; well, no one except them, Betty, and Will. They were not going to risk telling anyone else, even Kim's closest friends or Kim's parents. It was not that Kim did not trust those closest to her, but she did not want to burden them with such news and a secret was best kept between the fewest amount of people. Besides, everyone that knew, they had dirt on too, so it was sort of just assurance all around. Hego did not count because he did not acknowledge that he had been present for the conversation where his sister told him what was going on. Shego had not told her other brothers, but she did keep in touch with them.

Shego had told Kim about her relatives, going so far as to introduce the redhead to her brothers during a banquet that Hego had been kind enough to invite his sister to. Ever since she came back to Edo, Hego had been trying to get Shego involved with some things at his court, but she was not interested in much. She took him up on the feast offers because she liked going out with Kim. She was also able to stay away from Hego in a banquet, but he did sometimes try to speak with her, which would send her off earlier than she planned.

Kim was a bit surprised to find out that Shego was the sister of the Shogun, but she did not make a big deal out of it, which pleased Shego. Kim had also introduced Shego to her family. They came across as good friends to the Possibles, even though Shego did seem a little rough around the edges to the noble family. Shego liked Kim's family for the most part. She could tell that her mannerisms made them a little uncomfortable, but they were polite and friendly toward her for the most part. They made her feel very welcomed, which she could not say the same about her family when it came to Kim because Hego and Mego both had the habits of acting snobby.

The Wegos were quite friendly toward Kim, though since they could tell that she was someone important to their big sister, but they never did figure out how important. They probably would have dismissed the idea if they ever got the right one anyway. Shego was pleased that they were making an effort and expressed as much, which caused her little brothers to grin and inform her that they were just happy that she had a friend.

The couple got up from where they were sitting and got ready to go out since there were a million things to do in Edo; at least a million in Shego's opinion. With the way that she found different activities, Kim was inclined to believe her. They put on some hakama as usual; black for Shego and red for Kim. And then they donned their tops, a plain green kimono for Shego while Kim had a pink kimono with a flower design on. Shego shook her head when she saw Kim; the redheaded samurai was just about the only person she had ever seen mix plain hakama with elaborately designed kimonos.

Even though the fashion was odd, Shego did think that it looked good on her little kitsune. It somehow fit Kim, in her lover's opinion anyway. Maybe there was something about seeing Kim in flowers that sparked such thoughts on how the outfit was right for the redhead. Flowers could be wild and when they were in bloom, they were always beautiful, just like her princess was to her.

The two then went out for a night on the town. There was theater, dinner, and even some drinking and gambling. Shego was determined to get her kitsune a vice and she was pushing for it to be dice because Kim was either very lucky or skilled at the came of chance. It was just that Kim would only play if prodded enough by Shego. The pale woman talked Kim into playing that night and they walked away several ryo (1) richer.

They did not go out as often as they should, in Shego's opinion anyway. They did have a good time staying in, being around each other and sparring, but they needed to go out every few days in the pale woman's opinion. She made a mental note to try talking her princess into going out to play more often. It was a little difficult to get the redhead to go out because she mostly liked to practice her martial arts when she had spare time.

After a long night of hanging out with some questionable characters in a gambling den, the couple returned to a silent house. They were not surprised that Betty was not back; there was a heavy chance that she would not be back until the sun began to rise. They doubted that Will would be back anytime soon either since he often visited Josh when he got back from missions long before going home. The couple really did not care where Will spent his evenings or if he never came home. Life was generally quieter without the stubborn warrior.

Sometimes, when she was very bored and had nothing better to do with her time, Shego wondered what Kim and Will were going to do with themselves. They knew that their clans were waiting for children to come from the marriage, but they had no plans on delivering. She knew better than to ask or even bring the topic up. Betty assumed that Kim and Will were still actually trying to wait their grandparents out and get the heads of their clans to just give up on them. Betty would put money on Kim and Will if anyone brought up a bet. Shego would bet on Kim and Will too, but mostly because it was in her own interest and also she knew that Kim could be pretty stubborn if given the chance.

The couple staggered into their bedroom; Kim was trying to hold up the slightly intoxicated Shego. The redhead was only in somewhat better shape thanks to her beloved insisting that she take a few sips of sake herself. Shego was such a bad influence, the samurai thought. The pale woman knew that she was not the best example for Kim, but she felt like her kitsune needed to have some fun in life.

Kim released her lover gently onto the wooden deck of their room and turned to slide the door shut. As soon as Kim closed the shoji, Shego started trouble. She pulled Kim down to the floor with her and practically forced a kiss on the redhead, not that Kim was going to complain. The olive-eyed female returned the passionate display with just as much fire as her lover.

"You taste good mixed with sake," Shego remarked in a quiet tone. She was a bit mellowed out thanks to the drinking, which might have explained why she did not mind being underneath her lover.

"Well, you should get your fill because I'm not going to drink anymore," Kim informed the elder woman.

"You say that all the time and I get you to drink anyway. You've got to lighten up, princess. Life is here to be enjoyed," the older female commented and she took a nip at her love's exposed neck.

"Trust me, I am so enjoying it," the redhead replied while fighting back a moan.

Shego smiled against the peach-colored skin against her mouth. Kim did seem to be enjoying things and not thinking about the trouble that was ahead. The redhead knew that sooner or later, she was going to have to deal with her grandmother for the simple fact that she was not going to ever reproduce with Will. Usually, she folded to her grandmother's very powerful will, but she just could not and would not do that now. She was not sure what her punishment, if any, would be, but she would take it over what her grandmother wanted from her.

At the moment, Kim and Will fed their grandparents excuses as to why Kim was not with child yet; their grandparents were quite impatient it would seem. The "couple" talked about being away on missions often, which Betty backed since it was sort of the truth. Betty knew that she was playing a very high-stacks game of chance by confirming such lies, but she could not help it. She understood where they were both coming from, even though she wished that they would at least try to get along with each other. The teens were not interested in doing such a thing.

Kim did not want to think about that and did not have much of a choice in that since her mind just focused on Shego, who was kissing and biting the redhead's neck and shoulders, which were on display because the green-skinned warrior had pushed the kimono aside. Kim ended up hissing in pleasure and she writhed a bit against her pale lover, which made Shego chuckle. She knew later on when she brought up that the samurai actually writhed, Kim would deny the charges, as she always did.

Shego kept her mouth on Kim while reaching down to untie Kim's obi. The redhead seemed to be lost in the feel of her lover and was not thinking of doing anything on her own aside for feel good. Shego did not mind that at the moment since all she wanted was more flesh to taste and touch.

The super-powered woman quickly yanked Kim's obi away and pulled open her kimono completely. Tender, but eager hands wandered the redhead's soft, but muscular body while Kim started kicking off her hakama. The samurai could not get the bottoms off quick enough in both of their opinions. It was not long before Kim was nude, not to mention a moaning pile of flesh on top of Shego.

The fire-starter smiled to herself while making sure to keep her mouth on some part of Kim's body, any part would do. Her hands continued to fondly caress her lover. She was using a very low plasma charge while doing that and the heat was making Kim quiver and quake above her.

"Shego," the redhead groaned low in her throat. She was now unable to keep herself up and just collapsed on top of her beloved, which the older warrior did not mind.

"Yes, my little princess?" Shego inquired before going in for a bite at Kim's shoulder, causing the redhead to hiss in pleasure.

"Please…" Kim begged through clenched teeth.

"Please what?" the pale woman asked curiously, even though she knew. She just liked to tease her little kitsune, especially if it might lead to Kim saying something dirty.

"Please…"

"You have to tell me, kitsune," Shego said in a whisper of a voice before moving on to kiss her way down Kim's throat.

"Touch me," Kim pled, speaking in a desperate whisper.

"Touch you? I am touching you," Shego pointed out. She was kneading every bit of flesh that she could get her hands on, as usual. She also tasted every piece of skin that her mouth could reach, whether she was kissing, biting, or licking. So, she was definitely touching her little troublesome fox.

"Touch me," Kim repeated, her voice more forceful than before, coming out as a growled command rather than a whined plea.

"How would like me to touch you, kistune?"

"In the way that only you can," the redhead answered.

Shego smiled, happy to oblige and happy to hear such words. She was the only one that had ever or would ever touch Kim in such ways. She was the only one that had ever or would ever know the joy of being intimate with her adorable princess. Just the thought of it was utterly pleasing, but the reality of it was fantastic.

Kim arched into Shego's touch and let out a long cry of bliss as her love finally gave into her desires. The pale woman got caught watching as Kim moved against her as if it was the most fascinating sight a person could experience. Shego delighted in seeing Kim move over her, which was one reason why it never bothered her to be below Kim. It was a good thing that Kim did move over her or nothing much would be going on at the moment since she was stuck practically gawking.

The olive-eyed samurai leaned down and kissed Shego sweetly, which took the green-skinned woman out of her mesmerized state. Shego returned the kiss with white hot passion, causing Kim to have to do the same. The intense embrace silently screamed both sentiment and possession, stating as facts "I love you" and "you're mine." They both accepted that; it was what they wanted.

The kiss was broken as Kim shuddered above Shego before collapsing unceremoniously onto her beloved. The redhead was breathing hard and resting on Shego as if she was a futon. She placed a long, wet kiss to Shego's throat since she was close to that tempting area. After a few seconds of panting, Kim began caressing her lover and realized something.

"You're very overdressed, tenshi," the younger warrior whispered.

"Are you going to do something about that?" Shego inquired with a half-smirk on her face.

Kim only grinned; the expression seemed slightly inappropriate for the moment that they were in. The redhead picked herself up and quickly relieved her lover of her obi. Shego's clothing rapidly followed, joining Kim's attire in a pile by the door. The energized samurai then enthusiastically attacked the almost ethereal flesh underneath her. Shego was expecting the vigor that Kim hit her with, but she still ended up gasping because of the sheer delight that shot through her because of Kim's wonderful hands and mouth.

Shego ended up mumbling to the ceiling as Kim worked on her. The redhead knew exactly what spots she needed to pay attention to for Shego to end up just a green mess of goo underneath her, but she actually danced around those areas. It was pay back for her lover teasing her a few minutes ago.

"Princess…don't be this way," Shego pled, knowing why Kim was only coming close to her sensitive spots and not touching them completely. It was so evil of her kitsune to be spiteful at such a time, she thought.

"Be patient, tenshi," Kim replied with a smile.

Shego snorted; she was not the patient one in the relationship and she did not want to be either. She started pulling at her mate and pushing her to where she wanted the redhead to be. Kim resisted, but she gave in after a little while because she was not as amused with tormenting her lover as Shego was when it came to her. The pale woman moaned and groaned, moving into Kim's deep, darling caresses. She bit into her lip once Kim kissed her way down her body. She inhaled deeply as her legs were suddenly on Kim's shoulders. The redhead certainly was not shy about anything anymore.

Tears actually gathered in Shego's eyes from the heavenly feeling flooding through her system. Her body subconsciously moved with Kim until she felt like a great wave of pleasure hit her. She shuddered and fell against the floor, breathing as if she had just come ashore from nearly drowning. She would have taken her time recovering if Kim did not do something that she just could not resist; Kim licked her lips. Shego doubted that there was anything sexier than that action, so she shot up and placed a zealous kiss to Kim's mouth.

Shego practically crawled over Kim to end up on top of the petite redhead. The kiss continued on with just as much energy as it had been started with. They both moaned as they felt delicious skin contact. They trembled together before they started grinding against each other at the same time.

* * *

Shego and Kim were hugged up on their futon. The shoji that opened out to the garden was slightly ajar to let some air in, mostly for Shego, who was on the side facing the door for that purpose. The couple was covered with a thin blanket, which was how they typically slept. They were still awake at the moment, even though they were both rather exhausted.

They were enjoying the silence and closeness that they were experiencing, as if they were the only two people on the planet. It was an enjoyable feeling for the both of them because it allowed them to not have to worry about the future. They still took everything day by day, as they had when they were first traveling back to Edo. They did that because there were still challenges ahead of them and even though they believed strongly that they could and would overcome anything put in their path, they still preferred not to think about those things. They would worry about the future when it was the present.

Besides, nothing could touch them in their opinions as long as they were together. They really doubted that they had to worry about the future because they were such a force. They would rather think about how good the other felt when they were pressed together. They were so content that they never would have believed that it was possible if they were not able to experience. It had to be heaven, which would explain the angel next to her, Kim thought.

"Tenshi," the redhead whispered.

"Hmm?" Shego replied.

"I love you."

"I know you do," the pale woman remarked, earning a laugh from her beloved. She had to smile some herself. "I feel the same way, kitsune. I love you and I always will."

Kim smiled and cuddled closer to Shego, not that it was really possible considering how close they were already. Shego leaned down and delivered one more kiss to her love's mouth. It was soft and sweet and returned as such. And, the lovers continued to lie there, to be together forever and always.

* * *

1: ryo: I'm pretty sure it's what the gold coins of the day were called.

The end.

* * *

Thanks to everyone for reading, reviewing, and supporting this story. A special thanks to my betas Mouse and Laura25, who made this the best possible story it could be. Thank you both. See you in the funny papers…or the insane asylum.


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